When the Tank is Empty

You ever been there? Dry, depleted and dull? When people ask you how you are, you just stare and tell them there is nothing in the tank.

That is how I felt a few weeks ago when I had experienced a twelve hour flight delay. I was dry and sick and frustrated. While the event I spoke at was great, and the people inspiring, I was simply empty.

Are you there right now?

When Kelly and I were first married we took off on a cross country trip. About seven hours into the trip the car stuttered and quickly stalled. It was out of gas. We were so enthralled with one another that we didn’t even notice we needed fuel.

Normally this doesn’t happen. Most people are so drained that they know their gas tank is drained.

Here is why I felt empty - I was disconnected. When I am disconnected I am not full of life. Instead, I am full of things that pile on and continue to drain me - anxious thoughts, worry, frustration, etc.

In essence I was a car that had its warning light on with only a few miles left until I had completely run out of gas. So, what did I do? I got fueled up.

Each of us has our own type of fuel. For me it is pretty simple. I need to connect with God and I need to connect with my family. When looking back, my head cold and flight delay didn’t help my connections. Thankfully, my warning lights indicated that I needed fuel and in this case it didn’t take long to fuel up in a hurry in both areas.

The easy questions are these…

• Do you know what you really need in order to fuel up?
• Is that fuel fulfilling?
• Are you getting enough of it or are you constantly putting only a couple of bucks of fuel into your tank when you are going long distances?

Take the time to properly fuel up and watch your warning lights. Your leadership depends on it.

Posted on March 17, 2010 in Personal Growth