Cups, Pitchers, Fountains and Firehoses
By Jackie Mulrooney, President J P Systems, Inc.
If you aspire to be a leader, there are things you need to know and things you need to learn how to do. Leaders help others to get organized, supplied and ready to accomplish their mission. They learn how to serve others and keep it simple. But most of all, they learn to replenish themselves when they get depleted. They must learn how to recharge themselves. You are like a cell phone. Sooner or later, your internal soul battery will drain. Where do you go then? Do you throw your cell phone away when the battery dies and tell the phone company to cancel your account? Hey, this iPhone 13 Pro is worthless; the battery died. I have had it 2 days so I think I’ll recycle it. No! You plug it in to a source of power and recharge it. It is renewable. But it takes wisdom to be renewed in these times.
You learn to identify and drink from a source of power so you can recharge. Maybe you have a friend who helps you recharge. You trust them with your issues. Talking to them is like drinking a cup of cold water. Great, you now have a cup.
Maybe you have parents and other family members you trust and can talk to. They will tell you that you are worth something when you feel you have failed at something. They will tell you that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. Maybe you have heard this too much and are inclined to not believe them. Take heart, “Failure is never final and success is never ending.” (Robert Schuller). They are like having a pitcher of water.
Maybe you are attempting to do something big you have never done before. You now need more than a pitcher. You need a supply of water power that renews itself. Maybe you go to the greats of history, literature, an accomplished person or an inspiring teacher who believes in you. You need faith to get through college, pay your tuition, find the right job for you and believe there is a future and a hope out there for you. Bigger problems call for a bigger supply of things you have never had in abundance before – like self discipline, tenacity, and delayed gratification. You need to hear the story of someone who did something like that – something really hard and yet they succeeded! They stayed the course and didn’t quit. You need encouragement that your sacrifices will be worthwhile. You need a fountain that keeps giving you a vision of your goals, your future self and the real palpable hope of attaining them.
Now let’s say you have graduated and have a job, but maybe it’s not your dream job. You have a nice little apartment, but it’s not your dream loft condo with a view. You may have a mountain ahead of you – maybe it’s to save up the down payment on a place or maybe funds for starting your own business. As long as you have a job, you are renting a source of income with your time. Your fountain may be 10 foot high, but it won’t lift you up a mountain. You need a firehose to propel you on or maybe even a river if your dreams are big enough! You need more faith than the average person.
But caution, any one person can and will let you down. Don’t expect too much from people. Humans are frail and they make mistakes. Ctrl + Alt + Delete and reboot the relationship. We all do the best we can. When we know better, we do better. Leaders know how to forgive and go on. Your firehose can’t depend on just one person. It has to be greater than that because there is greatness in you that has to be developed. It is a process to move on towards your destiny. Don’t miss out by thinking too small – or by focusing on one mistake or one setback. Faith is a very powerful thing spiritually. It propels you forward. Tap into a group of people with faith. That can be a firehose.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are worthless or that you can’t do something. Don’t listen to their demons of dead batteries speak out doom and gloom to your life. Your life will not be like that. You know how to recharge. No throwing out your new cell phone and cancelling your plan. That is not for you! Don’t cancel your phone plan or your plans. Instead reboot, recharge and recalculate!