Volunteer Centered Thoughts: Wanna Get Away?
Submitted by James Higginbotham on February 19, 2008 – 9:02 am2 Comments
Here are some ideas for getting away from the everyday:
- Take a mini-retreat – not always feasible, but taking a full day away from the phone, computer, and everything else can help refresh your mind and allow you to think
- Get away from the church – if you can’t take a mini-retreat, find a different place to hang out around your neighborhood (coffee shop, park, etc). Try to stay off the path your friends frequent, otherwise you’ll be interrupted
- Take your leaders with you – consider taking a mini-retreat with your leaders for an afternoon and spend time praying for one another
- Read a book of the Bible in one sitting – nothing refreshes like the Word, but often we don’t make the time to read even a chapter a day. Try sitting down and reading a book all the way through (or perhaps all of Paul’s books, or John’s books). Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through the experiences and history
- Talk with your spouse – find a baby sitter and just spend time with your spouse. Talk about the challenges you are facing or what is happening with your team. Sometimes a spouse may have a different point of view that can help, while giving you both valuable time to spend together
Whatever you do, be sure to break your routine as that is the most effective way to get away and change your way of thinking.
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Great post! Another thought about getting away (although it’s virtual) is by looking at the same situation from a totally different perspective.
Architects do this by making a transparency of a drawing and flipping the transparency over. The ideas they come up with usually appear within the first 30 seconds of looking at their drawing upside down. This releases their creative juices and usually unblocks mental log jams.
We can do this too by what is called “proving yourself wrong.” If you are stuck thinking about a situation and can only see if from one perspective, ask yourself, “what if I was all wrong about this?” “What other possibilities should I be considering?”
Scott, great thoughts, thanks!