The Eight Ball Principle - Day off meditations
Just landed last night in Orlando. Jet lagged and getting ready for a week long conference. After 24 hours of driving to the airport, immigrations and security lines, Manila-Tokyo-Detroit- Orlando flights, I needed to take my usual Monday reboot. Back in the 1980s it was author Gordon MacDonald who helped me value taking day-offs seriously regardless of where I find myself.
I no longer remember the exact words of Gordon but the idea has remained a vital part of my Sabbaths. I've grown to call it the 8-ball Principle. Here's how the principle goes:
The start of each week is like billiard balls that are racked up in an orderly fashion. Ball 1 in the front, one striped and one solid color in the top corners and the eight ball placed neatly in the center of the triangular rack. As our week starts the neatly racked balls go through a break that causes the pieces to go in a variety of directions. In the course of the week some balls drop into pockets and are no longer in view.
Over the years I have taken MacDonald's illustration and created my own version. The 1-ball is my Tuesday (Mondays for those of you in business). It is the one that gets the first smack and usually the first to go into a pocket and quickly disappear from view. Somewhere in this mix of balls is my personal quiet time, my relationships, responsibilities, physical health and other activities. The natural progression of the week usually causes the balls to fly in different directions - priorities get off course and the week is not as orderly as when it started.
The eight ball is my heart. Its the one that goes into the center of my triangular rack. The one I need to keep my eye focused on and protect as best as I can. It's the same one I need to put back in center place if and when it accidentally drops into one of the pockets. MacDonald pointed out that like billiard balls we need to find the pieces of our week and rack them up in order again. This way every piece of our life has a way of getting assimilated back in their rightful place.
Sabbaths are designed to recollect the balls and rack them ready for the coming week. A simple discipline that allows me to find my heart and the various pieces that resets me for the coming week. Actually when you think about it, it is not a bad idea to regroup the balls of our life at the end of each day. For years Mondays have worked for me - they still do.
Read my Bible, Harvard Business Review's April 2012 issue under a tree by the lake and listened to the birds today. And the balls are back in place, specially the eight ball. Thanks Lord, no one restores quite like You!
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33
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