Staying on the Path

Inspired by my friend Paul who is doing a series of special posts for this Holy Week at Off the Beaten Track, I have decided to also do something special this week.

After toying with several directions to go, I've decided to use randomly selected quotes from Dr. Wayne Dyer's book, Staying on the Path. My plan is to post one quote each day and then add my own comments.

Generally, I see this Holy Week as a symbolic journey inward. It's a time to bury, or let go of all the things that we've been holding on to – a chance to let go of all the things that keep us stuck, such as fears, hesitations, doubts, and ’yes buts'. It's sort of a metaphysical 'spring cleaning' for the soul preparing us for Easter.

Easter represents freedom, rebirth and renewal - a time where we become re-aligned with our joy in life. A time for starting over with new energy and excitement. Contemplating these things, the randomly selected first quote was no surprise:

Once you become detached from things, they don't own you any longer.

For me, "things" refers to much more than just material "things". It encompasses people, actions, events, affections, outcomes, job titles, labels... or anything that affects our self-worth.

Since there's no way to avoid coming into contact with these various aspects of life, I'm suggesting that we look at these "things" in a different light and ask ourselves these questions:

"Have I attached my self-worth to this 'thing'?"

"Would my self-esteem remain intact if this were taken away from me?"

Like Dr. Dyer suggests, if our self-worth or our self-esteem is linked to something outside of us, then it "owns" a part of us. We do not own our whole self.

One of my biggest challenges is that I like to be in charge, and as a result, I often pile way too much on my plate, only to become totally overwhelmed a few months later. I think the underlying culprit for this is that I tend to attach myself to the "labels" - or to the words that describe my different abilities and the roles I have played at various times in my life.

The biggest example of this has been in the past couple of years. Moving from a very large church in Atlanta, where I was in a full-time leadership role overseeing and directing several groups, and coming to a mid-size church here in Huntsville, where I am just a part-time organist has been an adjustment. However, I felt like I'd gotten this "beast" out of my system.... until a few weeks ago....

Being offered the opportunity to 'help out' and fill in the gaps in an interim position, I started feeling the old 'pull' to start loading up my plate again, mainly because I have the ability and the experience to offer.

However, remembering the detachment process I went through a couple of years ago when I first moved to Huntsville, a move which allowed me to focus my life in other directions, I have had to stop myself and ask:

Would the time and effort needed to do these tasks energize me? Or would they drain me?

If the answer is that they would give me energy, then I need ponder no longer. If, however, I sense that they would drain me, then am I willing to let them go and allow someone else to do them?

Answering those questions has been a learning process - a process that constantly has me asking:

Have I attached my self-worth to this? If it were taken away from me, would my self-esteem remain intact?

Here's to continuing the Journey... staying on the path, and learning to detach from the "things" of life.

-Becky