Weighted Perspective

Each of us possesses our own weighted perspective on life and leadership.  A perspective shaped through our experiences.  Experience leads to wisdom, wisdom brings much needed perspective to our worlds. 

Weighted Perspective

Most Saturday mornings you can find me hiking.  It offers me peace, solitude, and space to think.  These hikes are generally the place where concepts for the upcoming blog post emerge.  The content for this week was written by others along the trail, they just didn’t know it. 

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield was the place, it’s one of my favorites.  I tried something new, I wore a weighted vest.  It was an attempt to challenge myself beyond my comfort zone. 

Here are the five lessons that I learned from the characters that Interceded my journey along the trail:

Pursuing Passion

As with most Saturday mornings, it wasn’t just the vest that physically weighed me down, it was the mental weight of the week that was.  The leftover burdens remained heavy.  From the moment that I exited the vehicle, those burdens began to lighten as they often do. 

As I approached the base of the mountain, I saw a young man in his early twenties walking towards me.  As he got closer, I saw him begin to smile.  I began to smile as well.  It was a former football player of mine, Jared.  He played for me nearly fifteen years ago.

While I was only able to catch up with him briefly, it didn’t take long to pick up on his passion for his faith and where he was headed in life.  As a coach and leader, that interaction brought me tremendous value to see a former player pursuing his passion.

Perspective gained…load lightened.    

You Got This

About a third of the way up, I saw a mother and her daughter.  The daughter had to have been nine or ten years old.  I could tell that the trail was physically challenging for them and the mother was clearly trying to convince her daughter to keep going.  The daughter wasn’t having it!

The father in me decided to offer some support.  From experience, I know that kids are fully capable of hearing someone other than their parent differently!  So, I offered to her some inspiration and said, “keep going, you got this!”

What I saw in the mother is what every parent and leader desires.  She wanted something more for her daughter than she wanted for herself…to be healthier.     

Perspective gained…load lightened.

I Need a Break

About half-way up, I had started second guessing my decision to wear the vest.  I wasn’t sure if I would make it all the way to the top.  I probably should have just hiked without one, like I have done hundreds of times before! 

Then, I passed a father and his son.  The son was probably seven years old.  He was struggling as well.  As I got closer to them, I heard the child say to his father, “I need a break.”  I looked at both of them and said, “It’s okay, we all do buddy!”

It was that confession that continued the climb for me.  In life and leadership, it’s vulnerability that acknowledges where we are at.  That simple realization keeps us on the path to progress, and progress is always forward. 

Perspective gained…load lightened. 

Focus Outwardly

About two thirds of the way up, I heard a militaristic voice running up the trail.  It was a cross-country coach asking for other people on the trail to cheer for his athletes as they passed by and asked us to pray for them. 

Considering he and his athletes were running up the mountain, my walking up with a weighted vest seemed a little less challenging!  Despite the coach’s own physical challenge, he was focused on others.  Me, not so much!    

Too often in life and leadership our focus turns inward when things get tough.  Redirecting our focus outwardly lessens the weight of our own burdens.  It places others above ourselves and gets us off the beaten path of pity.

Perspective gained…load lightened. 

You Did It

I was about a 1/3 of the way down the descent when I saw the mother and her daughter again.  This time, the daughter was leading the way!  I looked at her and said, “You did it!”  She smiled big. 

I could tell the mother was physically struggling to keep up.  I nodded to her, sending an unmistakable message, “Good job mom.” 

I had mentioned earlier that, “The mom wanted something more for her daughter than she wanted for herself.”  Great parents and great leaders go one step further.  They turn that desire into direction.  She affirmed it with her actions, she didn’t just say it, she did it. 

Perspective gained…load lightened.      

Conclusion

There are two ways down from the top, the trail or the road.  I had taken the trail back down.  As I was exiting the trail, my path intersected with the cross-country coach coming down the road.  We struck up a conversation on the way back to the parking area.  I found out that we had a lot in common from a coaching perspective.  His name…Jarrod. 

It had been on my heart to offer him encouragement for what he was doing as a coach. Well…I got my opportunity.

The greatest perspective gained from the trail that day?  Encouragement is the best way to lighten the load.  It sheds the proverbial weighted vest of life and leadership.  It allows us to press forward in the face of the discouragement, distraction, and dysfunction this world can throw at us. 

Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy, had a great quote on the topic of encouragement.  He said, “You know how you can tell if a person needs encouragement?  If they’re breathing.” 

We all need encouragement…period.  The further we go in life and leadership, encouragement doesn’t always come in abundance.  It comes in the smallest of perspectives.

I offer you this weighted perspective in closing.  If no one has told you lately…you are doing a great job.  Keep it up!