Donkeys
Many years ago - when I was still a church minister - I had a picture of a donkey on the back of my office door. Underneath it, I had written, “So. Are you leading, riding or carrying the donkey today?”
It was a personal reference to Aesop’s fable about the old man, the boy and donkey. Follow the link if you’re not familar with it.
I put it there because I was painfully (and daily!) aware that 300 different people had exactly 300 different expectations of me.
The “donkey” for me was the things I was trying to achieve in my ministry. There was my dreams, my hopes, my goals, my values… and then there was those of the “crowd”. Now in a position like a pastor’s, you’d think you’re basically there to do what everyone “needs” you to do in the moment. Well, there’s a place for that – the crisis. But most of the time, most of the people I served weren’t in crisis (even if they thought they were!).
And I began to go nuts trying to please all of the people all of the time. And the stuff I did well, the stuff that bore fruit in people’s lives and in mine, the stuff I was made to do … it all fell by the wayside.
Until one day I reread this fable again and Aesop spoke to me across the centuries. I got clear on what I was meant to do, what my focus was and what my values were. And to the best of my ability, I followed them.
Eventually that lead to me leaving professional ministry and launching my own life coaching practise – where I’ve been far more fruitful. But even before that, I was feeling better defined and more present for the real crises and needs that my talents could serve.
So. What’s your donkey? What are people telling you to do with it?
What do you WANT to do with it?
So do it.
