Trapper: [standing at the camp bulletin board] See this Henry?
Hawkeye: [reading notice] “First annual Polly Adler birthday
cookout, picnic and barbeque. All proceeds to go to
Sister Theresa’s Korean orphans’ fund.”
Henry: Forget it!
Hawkeye: Henry, you did everything you could.
Trapper: Yeah. Come on Henry, loosen up. You’ll have a ball.
Henry: Yeah, that’s just it. Everybody unwinds, has a good time,
then the war comes back and it’s a real belly drop.
Hawkeye: Look, we need this. If we don’t go crazy once in a while
we’ll all go crazy.
A Shirley Temple movie, a sex lecture by Henry, and a cookout provide welcome, if hilarious, relief for the busy and stressed out personnel of the 4077.
Coming off the end of a very busy fundraising campaign in my leadership context, it has been good to just stop and unwind. The past few weeks have demanded and deserved an ‘above and beyond’ effort to mobilize an army of volunteers to maximize collecting opportunities. Leading any cause or campaign with a high level of energy for an extended period of time to get the job done requires the willingness to wind down and relax when the job is done. Leaders by nature have a bias towards action that is driven by a desire to succeed. But if this intuitive drive is not accompanied by intentional down time, leaders will not have the physical and emotional reserves to sustain their success. Even Jesus, Master leader and Messiah, knew when to withdraw from the crowd and coached His followers to do so as well, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31). The demands and expectations of your leadership role will still be there when you return but you will be restored and ready to go another round.
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