What Makes Your Garden Grow?

I saw someone at an event recently who had an unusual canvas rucksack. 

The bag had patches stitched on it from all over the world.

And the patches were from unique destinations like Mozambique and Tasmania and Nicaragua, not just the usual France and Italy.

At first, I thought maybe he bought the backpack that way. 

But it turned out he sewed them on himself! His goal was to visit more countries than he was old. 

“I’m 39, he said, “and I have 42 right now, so I have a cushion of three.” But then he said, “Which is good because I’m brand new in my role and don’t get any vacation for a year.”

Whoa, I thought. 

“A year?” I said. “That’s rough.”

“Well, I still get sick days and personal days,” he said. “And this way I can see the whole program cycle before I take time away.”

I don’t know if he was trying to convince me or himself.

But it sounds like many non-profits, doesn’t it?

There is this sense is that you must love what we do enough that you give yourself to it—and someday, it may pay off.

What if instead we said, “We love you enough to help you with self-care as you grow here”?

Or “You don’t have to prove yourself to keep up with your life goals here.”

What if we asked, “What is more important to you than anything?” when we interviewed new people. “What is bigger than you and bigger than us from your perspective in your life”? 

These kinds of questions could make any interview process more intriguing for everyone.

There aren’t many people brand new to a job who don’t need time away to rest—for a whole year. Being in that learning curve of a new job is challenging—and self-care is super important when you take that on.

I felt a little sad walking away from this young man, thinking that he may find it difficult to keep up with his aspirations as he gets older. When he was young, he could probably knock off six or eight countries at a time—but that gets challenging if you only have three weeks of vacation a year. 

At some point, his count may catch up to him—and he will be faced with that difficult decision of “Do I live my value of adventure and seeing the world, or do I stick with this profession that seems pretty cool but is so demanding?”

I can imagine a time when resentment might grow and could push this adventurous spirit over the edge. He might decide this particular place is not for him and will leave to find a profession that aligns with what he wants in the world.

When we feel resentful about something, it often is a signal that one of our values is being violated. Or it's because we said yes to something that deep down we may have wanted to say no to.

Do you have something like that on your mind?

A resentment about something that is just not sitting with you well?

And if that's the case, what value do you hold that is being violated?  

American theologian and civil rights leader Howard Thurman once said, “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Does what you do help you come alive?

And if not, what might it look like if it did?

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