We all carry burdens don’t we? Those things that just weigh us down. It might be worry, or fear, or need. These are burdens unseen. I know a young athlete, a fabulous player who recently felt the burden to perform so deeply that it ruined his performance for awhile. He had been told that he had to carry the whole team and he got it into his head that this was true, so of course he tried harder and harder and produced less and less.
This young man truly is a gifted athlete, one good enough to be a professional, but he had it all wrong and so did his coach. The truth is, he has to be better than no one, he just has to be himself and that is way more than good enough. He took a few days away and found himself again. The smile that came back to his face was joyous and as you might guess, his performance came back to his high standards.
It is a young age to learn this lesson, but he needed it. It made him a better player. You see, without knowing it, he was stealing from his team mates by not valuing their contributions. He didn’t mean to do this, but his coach led him to that place, held him up as the “great hope” and so took away from the other players. He now knows that he cannot be responsible for the performance of others. This will make him a great ball player and an even better social worker when his career is over.
And now, what about us? Are you like me and take on the burdens of others? If you do a good job, they put more on you to do because you are good at it and if you and I are not careful, we start to carry all of the weight. That is actually deadly. It leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety and ill health. I have begun to learn that I am not that important, regardless of what others want me to believe.
I am letting others take responsibility for themselves. I still care about folks, don’t get me wrong, but I cannot carry the load. No, let me rephrase, I will not carry the load of others anymore. I have nothing to prove, I am good enough just as I am. There is nothing wrong with saying no to those extra burdens.
I fight it every day. I learned from my minister daughter that the reason ministers wear a stole is that it represents the yoke of Christ. Jesus said his burden was easy, the yoke fits comfortably and is never too heavy. Let’s agree to carry only the yoke of Christ. Let’s let other people carry their own yokes. They will never get stronger if we do it for them.
TMM