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Health & Fitness

Wake Up

Yesterday afternoon I sat for a few minutes overlooking a pond. There was a swan close by and after a few minutes it paddled off to the other side of the pond. As it left I took note of the wake it left behind. A perfect, peaceful V. The reason I was at that pond was to quiet my heart and mind and spend a few moments in solitude, praying, before I would be preaching at church that evening. The day had been a busy, emotional one, and there was something so therapeutic about watching that swan quietly leave two pristine, perfectly angled lines trailing behind it.

What's in your wake? I wonder if that swan ever looks over its shoulder to see what its leaving behind? I wonder if we do?We all move forward in some direction or other - and each of us leave a wake. A trail. Do we look over our shoulder to see what is in our wake? 

We have relationships in our wake. Interactions with fellow humans. Some are long-term relationships which are carried along with us: family and close friends. Others are seasonal, or temporary relationships: office friends, church friends, college friends, girl-friends and boyfriends. The kind of relationship which is real and deep, but when situations change, e.g. you move job, break up, move state, the relationship fades. Others are momentary. These are the daily interactions with people we don't know, but bump into in the daily course of life. Waiters at your favorite restaurant, tellers at the bank, that new family that moved in across the road, the check-out assistant at the local department store.

If we look back over our shoulder what kind of wake have we left for these groups of people? Is it a wake of pain and chaos? Betrayal? Has our selfish ambition trodden upon others so we could move ahead faster? Has our gossip left others feeling naked and exposed? Embarrassed? Have we been too busy or preoccupied to notice or be polite to the person ringing up our groceries? 

One of my favorite books is "The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham". In that book there is extensive comment about how Billy Graham took every small interaction with someone seriously. Engaging eye contact, thoughtful consideration of the person's situation and heart-felt discussion - even when it was brief, as brief as an exchange in passing on the way to the men's room at a restaurant. People would remark years later how that brief conversation had impacted them so positively. 

What about our families - it's possible to look back over a day, a week, month and even years to see how our kids are, our siblings, our spouse. We can build them up and make space for them each and every day! 

I took a vacation last week and spent each minute of every day with my kids - it was glorious (and exhausting). But the day I was back at work made me realize how time goes so quickly - the day had ended and I had spent only a few rushed moments over breakfast and dinner with the kids. I was pleased during my "wake-review" that I also squeezed in about 30 minutes swimming pool time which was super! The kids didn’t care what else I accomplished that day – to them that was the most valuable thing I could have done!

We have tremendous opportunity to leave peace, promotion, enouragement, healing, friendship and memories in our wake. But it requires deliberate thought, planning and action. It requires slowing down to consider. It requires looking over our shoulder to survey what's behind us. 

We can't fix or correct a wake that has already been created. But once the water settles we can circle back and create a new wake - one we'd feel more positive about when we looked back at it. At times it may not even be possible to circle back - and in those moments we need to ask forgiveness, learn our lessons, and push forward. 

Swim on friends - leave a massive wake of goodness and godliness.

justdonlon

Read the follow-on to this blog here:
Bad-Investment-Relationships are sometimes ok

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