Give Yourself a Break

When life gets difficult, we’re told God uses those times to refine us. Teach us. Strengthen

So, what can radio learn from our good friend ‘Rona? My takeaways could be helpful not just for your life behind the mic, but for your life apart from radio. It comes down to margin: Corona has been showing us we may not have nearly enough.

Margin: “The difference between two amounts,” according to the Collins Dictionary. Real life example you’ve probably been squeezed into: the airlines. They’re all over the headlines these days for having lots of room on their flights, thus losing lots of money. As you’ve likely heard over the years, their relentless pursuit of efficiency has meant flights need to be close to full for them to have a chance at being profitable. (Adios leg and elbow room! Until recently.) We’re watching this play out as our favorite local restaurants figure out if re-opening at half (or whatever) capacity is worth it. All kinds of businesses and non-profits are facing a problem of our own making.

I’m suggesting we’ve done this in our own lives, on scales much smaller. When we are blessed with raises or side hustles, the money that seems “extra” at first soon becomes part of our budget. We adjust our lifestyles and wouldn’t want to strip the “extra” back out. The extra becomes essential. Obligations in our schedules go away and we find new ways to fill our newfound free time. Before we know it, we have less free time than we did before the obligation vanished.

To sum it all up: We willingly yet unwittingly rob ourselves of margin. We inadvertently put quantity over quality. More activities. More output. We can do few things well, or many things poorly. This has applications in every area of your life: personal relationships, finances, and your job

This is not your free pass to coast through life and give less than your best. It’s quite the opposite: ask yourself in what ways your life could use margin so you can be at your best? If your approach to life (at work or at home) doesn’t leave the right amount of margin, you’re not at your best. It’s in the margins God breathes His creativity through you. When you have time to reflect on what He wants to show you. It’s the space you need to truly show the important people in your life how much you value them. The margins are where your opportunities to serve (with your time, money, and talents) live. If your calendar and/or your brain are too full of “have-to”s, you’re robbing yourself, your station, and your friends/family of experiencing your full potential.

Bosses: Do your people have enough margin to excel at the thing that adds the most value to your mission? Surely there’s a balance. You want to be good stewards of your listeners’ donations or your owner’s resources. Quite often, we can give our team the margins they need to thrive without being wasteful. A few simple conversations and adjustments may be all you need.

Caveat: Sometimes life happens. Your margin will vanish despite your best intentions. Be mindful of reclaiming it when the time is right. Going through life without margin is like driving on an empty tank. You know how that story ends.

As a guy who has struggled with keeping margin in his life, I’ve learned when I lack it on purpose, I’m also lacking trust in God. As if more, more, more will finally bring me results I should be leaning on Him for. Next time you recognize this in yourself, I leave you with Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”