When It’s Time to HALT – (When you’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired)

HALT. (when you’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired)

I learned this little acronym recently at a class taken at a Benedictine monastery in Schuyler, Nebraska (pictured above). It was a beautiful time of self-reflection, deep conversation, cathartic release, and one-week long legitimated narcissism :) Because it’s important for people in my line of work to have our heads on straight – because our soul-health affects the health of many others, as well as our accompanying ecclesial structures, institutions, and places of ministry.

Which is funny because as soon as I arrived home in Houston, the faster pace of urban life tripped me up and I find myself a bit off-rhythm, trying to re-enter the game of double-dutch that I was doing so well in before my accident. Truth be told, I’m missing the beat here and there, feeling a bit off-timed as I attempt to re-enter that former pace of life and meet the high demands (I often place on myself). It sucks. Sucks because I’m physically depleted constantly. It’s not even a matter of rest, I guess it’s just part of the recovery process when one has a major surgery like that. Emotionally I do feel a little spent. What with the accident and life still moving on around me, there has been a lot to process of late, and with so many things on my mind about life, church, ministry… I am on information overload. The usual minor dramatics here and there that I can navigate with relative ease like a professional fielder in a game of softball… are now jumping up and biting me in the eye.

So I guess the question now is… do I need to “HALT”? Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired?

I think I’ll reserve the answer to that question for myself. A blog is a wonderful thing. But to emotionally spill one’s guts out on it – this I don’t think serves its purpose. I am presently writing a “Rule of Life” for myself which I plan on sharing a bit later, but this HALT principal features largely in it. I can say this much tho; as much as this eagle aint grounded, I still have a way to go before I can soar again. And I just have to accept that.