Are You A Prisoner of Success?
By Jill Koenig
Author, Coach, Motivational Speaker
I love to study various religions and spiritual beliefs. I caught a fascinating interview with Barbara Brown Taylor on pbs the other day.
Years ago, Barbara pursued a goal to spend the rest of her life closer to God. She became a Priest and was 'successful' in growing the congregation of a small church in Georgia.
The problem was that her success at growing the church started to take her away from her original goal. She was burning out.
This is what Barbara said:
"Part of what happened was that the church and I succeeded. Part of what happened is that the church grew, and I gained a reputation for preaching, and people came, and it was a wonderful community. But we had a building that seated 82 people, and with a congregation then approaching 400 we were up to four services on Sunday, and everyone was tired. But the only relief to our tiredness was to build a new building, and no one particularly wanted to go there.
So I found myself in a maze where I'd taken the wrong turn. In my wish to do well for that congregation I wasn't doing particularly well for myself or my friends or my family, and I even found that the work for God was taking me away from God. There was no time anymore to be quiet or still or pray. So, in many ways, that's what led to my downward spin.
Beliefs have become unimportant to me. Faith as radical trust became even more important to me during this time. Because so many of my certainties about who I was and what I was supposed to be doing fell away, that faith was really what I had left.
In following the Really Real into a parish, which seemed to me like the best place to be full-time involved in what was Really Real, I became so attentive to the souls of other people that I was not as attentive as I might have been to my own."
Barbara was burned out. She took a step back. Her original goal was to be closer to God. Her success had begun to take her away from God.
From time to time, you have to take a break and take inventory on your life and your situation.
Are you where you want to be?
Are you headed in the direction you want to be moving?
Sometimes we get so busy, we forget where we were trying to go.
Are you directing your day or is your day directing you?
What changes do you need to make?
Goals are something we must continually look at. We define them, we redefine them. Progress is not only measured in numbers but also in fulfillment, growth, joy and peace of mind. Those are measured in the heart.
We have to check in. The Time Commandments leads you through a series of steps, that when followed will allow you to live closer to your bliss.
For Barbara, the change she made was to resign from the position at the church she grew so successfully and take a positition as a teacher at nearby Piedmont College. She still guest preaches at various churches several times a month and continues to evolve in her journey. She has written 10 books on spiritual evolution, which are a fascinating read.
You can watch the interview here:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week945/profile.html
Where are you going? Are you fulfilled?
Are you moving closer to your goals?
If you are stuck, what changes do you need to make?
http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
http://www.GoalGuru.com
Author, Coach, Motivational Speaker
I love to study various religions and spiritual beliefs. I caught a fascinating interview with Barbara Brown Taylor on pbs the other day.
Years ago, Barbara pursued a goal to spend the rest of her life closer to God. She became a Priest and was 'successful' in growing the congregation of a small church in Georgia.
The problem was that her success at growing the church started to take her away from her original goal. She was burning out.
This is what Barbara said:
"Part of what happened was that the church and I succeeded. Part of what happened is that the church grew, and I gained a reputation for preaching, and people came, and it was a wonderful community. But we had a building that seated 82 people, and with a congregation then approaching 400 we were up to four services on Sunday, and everyone was tired. But the only relief to our tiredness was to build a new building, and no one particularly wanted to go there.
So I found myself in a maze where I'd taken the wrong turn. In my wish to do well for that congregation I wasn't doing particularly well for myself or my friends or my family, and I even found that the work for God was taking me away from God. There was no time anymore to be quiet or still or pray. So, in many ways, that's what led to my downward spin.
Beliefs have become unimportant to me. Faith as radical trust became even more important to me during this time. Because so many of my certainties about who I was and what I was supposed to be doing fell away, that faith was really what I had left.
In following the Really Real into a parish, which seemed to me like the best place to be full-time involved in what was Really Real, I became so attentive to the souls of other people that I was not as attentive as I might have been to my own."
Barbara was burned out. She took a step back. Her original goal was to be closer to God. Her success had begun to take her away from God.
From time to time, you have to take a break and take inventory on your life and your situation.
Are you where you want to be?
Are you headed in the direction you want to be moving?
Sometimes we get so busy, we forget where we were trying to go.
Are you directing your day or is your day directing you?
What changes do you need to make?
Goals are something we must continually look at. We define them, we redefine them. Progress is not only measured in numbers but also in fulfillment, growth, joy and peace of mind. Those are measured in the heart.
We have to check in. The Time Commandments leads you through a series of steps, that when followed will allow you to live closer to your bliss.
For Barbara, the change she made was to resign from the position at the church she grew so successfully and take a positition as a teacher at nearby Piedmont College. She still guest preaches at various churches several times a month and continues to evolve in her journey. She has written 10 books on spiritual evolution, which are a fascinating read.
You can watch the interview here:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week945/profile.html
Where are you going? Are you fulfilled?
Are you moving closer to your goals?
If you are stuck, what changes do you need to make?
http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
http://www.GoalGuru.com
posted by Goal Guru at 12:12 PM
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