Growing Women Leaders – Session 1: Break the Balance Ball
My first “homework” for the Growing Women Leaders Seminars I am attending.
| Quote: |
| © Ann Griffiths, 2007 Bring It Home #1 Ask someone you know who is strugling with what they see as a balance issue, to choose what character in a circus best represents their life right now. Then have them tell you what it’s like from that perspective. Don’t judge them or try to change their perspective. After they’ve told you about it, challenge them with: —> What do you gain from that perspective? —> What does that perspective cost you? —> What do you think God sees from that perspective? It’s good to have things to think about when we’re on our own so don’t hesitate to ask them to take these last three questions away to work on by themselves. |
I haven’t had anyone to do this exercise with yet. (Not that people aren’t having balance issues, but that I haven’t been able to connect with them…perhaps because of their/my balance issues…?)
Thinking about it today, I felt like I could still gain some insight by completing the exercise for myself.
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The character in the circus that best represents my life right now is the Ring Master. This is what things look like from that perspective:
As the Ring Master, I love to put on a good show, not just for the audience to see and for the applause but because it’s fun for me, usually. Sometimes, though, the other characters don’t cooperate very well.
What I have also come to realize is that I don’t mind mixing up the show every time, going with it however it comes about. That is making some of the others in my show a little nuts.
They don’t always know what’s coming next, which ring they are jumping into, who has what to do, when it’s time to go to the next town, or even where we’re going. If it’s time to ‘perform’ right now, they might not know it, and I end up barking orders to quickly get things in line.
The clowns in my family…er, I mean, the circus…, don’t mind as much as some of the other performers, but I sense that they could be better at what they do, too, if there was a real good picture of what things usually look like. For me, I have a hard time with ‘usual’.
Meanwhile, I’ve been busy greeting the crowd, promoting the show, picking up the supplies, running everyone to their various practice venues, and other Ring Master-type activities. It doesn’t matter to me when things happen, until it matters to the crowd (the outside world), and then everybody better wake up! But since no one knows when things are going to happen, no one is prepared. No one is in the habit of being ready either, because they never know when “ready” is or will be.
There’s another thing: I tend to think of this as MY show, when in fact it is OUR show. I don’t look at the parts that the individual performers play and help them to be better performers as much as I should.
In order to be a more responsible Ring Master, I’ve tried to put together a Program – Show Schedule – many times (even in the last few weeks!), but I’m not diligent enough to keep up with it myself much less to train the other characters and performers to keep up with it. It’s just not in my personality. It’s not that I’m a Lazy-Make-Everyone-Else-Do-the-Show kind of Ring Master, either. I’m very busy! It usually ends up that it’s other circus’ schedules that mandate me to some kind of program.
A circus with many performers probably needs some routine and regularity for it to thrive. Creativity has a hard time shining “on the fly”. So, as the Ring Master, I often feel like I’m doing a terrible job: I’m not a very good Ring Master, even though I’ve been given this circus to...run? Guide? Direct? Preside over? Participate in? (See why I can be a bad Ring Master – I can be very indecisive!)
So, I would see myself as a Ring-Master, but not always a very good one.
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Obviously these thoughts are e-x-t-r-e-m-e generalizations. Putting it all out like that kinda sounds harsh, terrible, etc. I know it’s not this extreme, and it’s not this way all the time. (Don’t judge me too harshly, or build too strong a picture based on this limited perspective alone But it’s a good way to think of my role in a little different way.
And I think I need to think on the challenges listed above some more before I respond directly to them… This post is a work in progress…
:blush:
