Purpose

Our purpose is to have balance in the following four areas:

Physical:
Beneficial eating, exercising, and resting

Mental:
Learning, reading, writing, and teaching

Social/Emotional:
Making social and meaningful connections with others

Spiritual:
Spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through meditation, music, art, prayer, or service

Prov 27:17  |  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

As leaders, often we get so caught up in leading, that we do not take time to sharpen our saw. Did you ever hear this story when you were younger?

A woodcutter strained to saw down a tree.  A young man who was watching asked “What are you doing?”
“Are you blind?” the woodcutter replied. “I’m cutting down this tree.”

The young man was unabashed. “You look exhausted! Take a break. Sharpen your saw.”
The woodcutter explained to the young man that he had been sawing for hours and did not have time to take a break.

The young man pushed back… “If you sharpen the saw, you would cut down the tree much faster.”
The woodcutter said “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw. Don’t you see I’m too busy?”

In the book7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says: “Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Here are some examples of activities:

Our purpose is to have balance in the following four areas:

  • Physical: Beneficial eating, exercising, and resting
  • Social/Emotional: Making social and meaningful connections with others
  • Mental: Learning, reading, writing, and teaching
  • Spiritual: Spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through meditation, music, art, prayer, or service

7habits-coverAs you renew yourself in each of the four areas, you create growth and change in your life. As Steven Covey says is his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Sharpening the Saw keeps you fresh so you can continue to practice the other six habits. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you. Without this renewal, the body becomes weak, the mind mechanical, the emotions raw, the spirit insensitive, and the person selfish. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Feeling good doesn’t just happen. Living a life in balance means taking the necessary time to renew yourself. It’s all up to you. You can renew yourself through relaxation. Or you can totally burn yourself out by overdoing everything. You can pamper yourself mentally and spiritually. Or you can go through life oblivious to your well-being. You can experience vibrant energy. Or you can procrastinate and miss out on the benefits of good health and exercise. You can revitalize yourself and face a new day in peace and harmony. Or you can wake up in the morning full of apathy because your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-gone. Just remember that every day provides a new opportunity for renewal – a new opportunity to recharge yourself instead of hitting the wall. All it takes is the desire, knowledge, and skill.”

Each trip will start and finish with prayer. This is not intended to make people feel uncomfortable, but to strengthen us together, and help us be the men God intended us to be.