Life works so much better when we are living in our sweet spots. When our skills, knowledge, personality and giftings work together in whatever we are doing. It is the place we all want to get to.

Sometimes however you have to live in your “not so sweet spot” for a myriad of reasons and it makes you remember how sweet the sweet spot is- and it is actually a really good reminder.

This week I spent 5 days straight working on accreditation of training. Now I know a bit about accreditation from sheer necessity. C3 College where I work in runs accredited training- we are a Registered Training Organization . God also gave me a decent brain so I can learn and read fairly quickly. We had an accreditation deadline and that became a problem to solve for us – and I love solving problems.  I also have an  active sense of responsibility so hence I was deep in a land of details and government mumbo jumbo all week. Totally not my sweet spot.

However every role in life has some areas that are not our sweet spots and we would be deluded to think we would always be in perfect flow in our work places . Although flow is the optimal place to be – according to Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi. ( Never heard of flow- let me help – it’s a theory of your ideal work and creativity conditions- here is a simple graph to help. )

However sometimes you can’t be in flow- and work is just that – work !

However this week I  learned again what happens when I am out of my sweet spot , or not in flow.

1. Tiredness – I think 8 hours of intense details for me feels like about 12 hours of any other work.

2. Irritability – I get very grumpy when I am working for long periods of time on things that are not in my sweet spot. I think it stems from basic insecurity- I know I am not the expert in this field, I am second guessing myself all the time and so I am on edge.

3.  In order to get it done I become very tunnelled visioned and can’t deal with much else. Not a good way to live life at all. Only advisable for very short periods of time.

4. When you have a sense of purpose you can do anything – this was a very short season. However one of the team I work with is frequently  out of his sweet spot, and he does it because he sees the bigger picture and can see the pathway into his sweet spot .

The biggest key I learnt again was that when you are not in your sweet spot you had better be there with some good people who have lots of grace. This week I worked with an incredible team who pulled of a mountain of work – and it made it all possible. The fact that we were in this sour spot together helped me so much. I did annoy them by walking around singing “everything is awesome, everything is cool when you are part of a team ” from the Leggo movie – but honestly I felt it .

I feel a great sense of achievement about what our team achieved this week – and personally I pushed through and got my part of the  job done, which is a great feeling.

However I am excited to get back into  the sweet spot next week – where life works, the sun shines and work is energising.

I am grateful my role is frequently right in the middle of my sweet spot. Is yours ? Or do you feel like I did this week all the time ? Might be time for a change. Don’t live your whole life not using your incredible gifts and talents.

Back to feeling relaxed again !

Do you ever try to put yourself into the Bible  narrative and wonder what it was really like? I do. Today in class , I was teaching on the realities of what Jesus attained for us on the cross. I love teaching theology! However when it comes to Easter I often find myself pondering and reflecting on not the theological implications but what would it have been like to be there – I want to ask  some questions

1.What was it really like in the garden when the Roman guard came to arrest Jesus- what were the disciples thinking- did they feel like this was the end for them too -how scared were they ?

2. What did it feel like to be Mary , standing watching your son and Saviour suffer?

3. What happened to the Centurian who declared “Surely this was the Son of God ” – did he feel guilt and sadness at being part of Jesus’s death?

4. Was there a priest in the temple when the curtain, that was around a foot thick, ripped from top to bottom- how did he process that ? Did he know that he could now enter God’s presence or did he run out screaming in fear?

5. What was it like for your average Jew when the sky went dark at 3pm in the afternoon- what did they think had just happened?

6. How was it for the women who went to the tomb to find it empty?

7. What was the human reaction to the pivotal point in human history , the moment Jesus died on a cross with the sin of the world on him, and then rose from the grave when death could not hold him down?

8 . Did they have any idea what it really meant ?

My questions allow me to enter into the story and remind myself again that there were human reactions to a God encounter .

In the end the story is a love story, in the end a simple love story – it is about God who loved humanity so much that he would let his Son die for them.

Did they understand that at the time – do I understand the depths of it today? Do I just listen to the Easter story, as something very familiar,  and not take time to appreciate what it really means?

Happy Easter – hope you ask yourself some questions this Easter as you reflect, remember and celebrate Jesus !

(The art work is by Ps Phil Pringle – not only my Senior Pastor but professional artist – one of the most moving Easter experiences I have had was watching him paint Jesus on the cross live ! http://philpringle.com/artgallery )