I never forget to eat. When I wake up in the morning, then around noon, and again in the evening, my growling stomach reminds me that my body needs food. Consistently filling my physical tank comes pretty easily, but I often loose sight of the fact that I have other tanks as well. An emotional tank. A relational tank. A spiritual tank.
Like my physical tank sends hunger pangs when it needs attention, my other tanks send warning signs too. They tend to be more subtle so I need to pay attention in order to catch them. Unfortunately, I sometimes get so busy crossing things off my to do list or running from one commitment to another that I ignore the flares they’re sending up. Before I know it, I’m feeling burned out, anxious or depressed.
I recently sensed a dryness in my spiritual tank during an intense week I spent finishing the rough draft of my first novel. The work was going well but left me feeling drained. After running some errands, I had just gotten back to the apartment where my wife Lisa and I were staying for our writing retreat. I was about to dive back into the book when I sensed a warning bell going off. My spiritual tank needed filling. I decided to listen.
Changing my plans, I left the apartment and walked down to a local art gallery. I spent the next half hour just soaking in the beauty of paintings and sculpture. Something about the nature of art has a spiritual component that feeds my soul. I’ve learned that for my spiritual tank to be filled, I need to regularly focus on things that are beautiful. Prayer, spiritual writings, silence and solitude, and spirit-focused gatherings are all helpful too, but taking in beauty is a key practice for me. I left the gallery feeling recharged and at peace.
Loch Lomond, Scotland
That trip to the art gallery was a meal for my soul but sometimes I only have time for a snack. I recently found a bite-sized piece of beauty that I’d like to share with you. It’s a music video by a cappella artist Peter Hollens that’s been making the rounds on social media lately. It’s a stunning version of the old Scottish folk song “Loch Lomond.” Something about listening to this haunting melody performed with such skill and passion awakens a beautiful ache in my soul. It stirs a longing and a hope inside of me. “Deep calls to deep” penned a poet in the Bible (see Psalm 42:7 below). This piece of art is a reflection of the deep beauty and mystery in the universe, and it resonates with the beauty and mystery deep in me.
What feeds your soul? What type of beauty fills your spiritual tank? Maybe it’s a walk in nature or listening to moving music or viewing great art. Whatever it is, I encourage you to start by taking 4 minutes to watch this video. Maybe it wont connect with you the way it does with me, but either way, let it serve as a reminder to pay attention to the signals your spiritual tank is sending you. Or maybe it’s your emotional or relational tank that’s running on empty. Learn what fuels them all and schedule regular times to fill up. If you do, you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
Psalm 42
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
From the New International Version of the Bible
There’s a bizarre character in the M. Night Shyamalan movie Lady in the Water. He’s a bodybuilder who only works out one half of his body. As you would suspect, he looks like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger on one side and Pee-wee Herman on the other.
I think a foundational building block of personal development is balance. I’m not saying that every area of my life is of equal importance. For example, I’d rather be emotionally healthy with average intelligence than a depressed genius. That said, I believe working on myself as a whole will yield more satisfying results than a hit or miss approach.
5. Spiritual health – prayer, silence and solitude, 
When I’m feeling depressed, grumpy, stressed or generally out of whack, I try to step back and do a quick mental review of these areas. It’s usually pretty easy to see which ones are out of balance and need a little TLC. Having this checklist not only helps me find a way out of my funk, it gives me a gauge to measure my progress on my personal development goals. It helps me become a better version of myself.
For most of my life I’ve felt like I wasn’t doing enough. Not giving enough money to charities. Not spending enough time developing relationships. Not doing enough to serve others. Not working enough on my own heath and well-being. Every TV commercial showing a child in need made me feel guilty. Every article about diet, exercise or sleep habits made me feel like I was failing. Every book on relationships made me feel like I was falling short of being a good husband, father, friend, or neighbor.
These feelings led me to ask some hard questions: how do I balance all the competing demands in my life? How do I choose to live in a world where there is so much need? How do I spend my time, energy, and money? I felt overwhelmed by the “should do” lists in my life.
2. FINANCIAL – I will fund my retirement plan and give at least 10% of my income to charities I believe in.
4. SPIRITUAL – I will spend 45-60 minutes praying / reading / meditating / hanging out with God 6 mornings a week.
5. SERVING OTHERS – I will volunteer 1-2x per month at 
I’ve found that having a simple Rule of Life frees me from a lot of stress and guilt. Sometimes things that aren’t on my list come up that I feel I need to do. That’s ok. And when circumstances in my life change, I update my Rule. But having this baseline has made me happier, more peaceful, and more productive.