Don’t kill the horse

Even if you think you own it

Near the end of his short life, he died at age 29, the missionary Robert Murray McCheyne allegedly said, “God gave me a horse and a message. I have killed the horse and I can no longer deliver the message.”

There was no television or devices for recording this deathbed conversation.  But it has been reported and quoted through history since to help those that spend their lived providing for others that doing so the the detriment of their own physical and mental health is to cut short the valuable service they render to others.

We seem to be in such a time now.  For some it is the economy of commerce, for others the economy of relationships.  Yes, there is such an economy.  It exists and is marked by how we are viewed by others and how we view ourselves in relationship to them.

We all have an emotional bank account.  Did you know that?  We do.  And it is human nature, meaning the nature of being human, that we make deposits and withdrawals into our account.  This account has been referred by some as mental health, or emotional wealth, others refer to it as our “Love Tank” which can be running on fumes or empty.  All are referring to the emotional bank account.

Trying to run your life on empty is about the same as pushing a car down the road in the same situation.  You make little progress and the effort is overwhelming.

Getting The Fuel We Need

There are many sources of fuel.  Other people that make deposits in our bank account are one.  Things we enjoy doing is another source of fuel for our account.  We each run on different fuel, but we all need it to run.

Stopping the Leaks

It is unfortunate there are some people and events which drain our emotional bank accounts.  Sometimes we take out of our account and put into someone elses.  This is healthy and good.  However, some people are emotional bank account robbers.  They are making withdrawals from our accounts when they haven’t made deposits.  As with a bank, making a withdrawal where you havn’t made a deposit is robbery.

There are situations involving people as well that can be a steady drain on our emotional bank accounts.  This is where we have to take action to keep ourselves from being drained.

Killing the Horse

Killing ourselves in this process does no one any good.   Sometimes the toughest love we have to give is to ourselves.

Lot’s more could be said.  Be the kind of person that people want to see coming (they make deposits) and not the kind of person that always drains other.  And if you are running on empty, you can’t keep making withdrawals on your own account, if you try you will end up killing the horse.