How Full Is Your Tank?

My first car ever was a 1992 White Toyota Corolla. I got it my senior year in high school. I put about 230k-245k miles on her before she died. **sniffle sniffle...drops tear** Her name was Coco-Loco because I drove that thing everywhere you could imagine. One hilarious memory I have was when I was working for Comcast in Silver Spring and I was living in Upper Marlboro at the time. Pretty lengthy commute. My gas was pretty low, but I didn't notice it until I was already on the beltway. So I kept saying to myself, "At the next exit, I'll get off and get gas." Before you know it, I was out of gas! I had to call my brother Brandon to bring me some gas! LOL, Remember that B?!?!?! It didn't matter how hard I stepped on the gas, it wouldn't go. It didn't matter how I talked to Coco-Loco, it would go. It just didn't matter because she was out of gas.

A good friend of mine asked me to do a blogpost on "Me Time". This was about a couple weeks ago. I absolutely have no problem writing this because I believe I'm pretty good at this. I care about myself and I NEED some "Me Time". If I had to define Me Time, I'd probably define it as...

engaging oneself in something strictly for pleasure and enjoyment

My "Me Time" consists of different things; journaling, praying, working out, watching basketball or a movie, or even napping. Below I'll list 2 main reasons why EVERYONE needs "Me Time".

Refuel- Having "Me Time" helps you refuel or re-energize yourself. The same principle as a vehicle. A car only runs out of gas when it travels for a certain distance burning up all the existing gas. We are the same way. When our bodies experience work, sports, ministry, running a business, school, etc. there comes a time when our gas runs out. We must engage in "Me Time" to fill ourselves back up.

Refocus- Often times, after I fill up my gas tank, I'll reset my odometer. I do this because I'm starting a new slate. A new set of trips. And sometimes to see how long this tank of gas lasts with these upcoming trips. After we have "Me Time", it allows us to Refocus so we can see where we need to channel our energy, time, and efforts.

Ask yourself these questions: What good am I to anyone else if I haven't taken time out for myself? What good am I to my job? What good am I to my wife/husband? What good am I to my kids? What good am I to my friends if I don't take time out to focus on myself? What good am I if my tank is on E?!?!?! It didn't matter how hard I stepped on the gas. When the gas was gone, it was gone. When the cup is empty, it's empty. When it's all gone, it's all gone.

We cannot pour into anybody in our life who needs us when we have nothing left in our cup to pour.

I'm curious. How do you get in "Me Time"?