A few years ago, my 4 (at the time) children and I traveled about 45 minutes away from home for a family event. The event lasted into the night. We were so tired by the end of it. We said our goodbyes. Got back in the van. And headed back up the highway to go home.

All of a sudden, the van started slowing down. I had no idea what was going on. The van was new. We had just bought it a few months before. It couldn’t be breaking down. Was it a mechanical error? Something wrong with the battery? I looked down and realized something that had never, ever happened to me before – WE RAN OUT OF GAS! The only funny part (wasn’t funny at the time!) about it was that my oldest daughter had joked earlier that same day “What if we run out of gas?”

We ended up stopped on the side of the highway, my husband was at least 45 minutes away, it was dark, and I had 4 sleepy children with me. I was, of course, thinking worse case scenario.

What would my husband say?

What if we’re accidentally hit on the side of the road?

How long will it take for someone to get to us?

Luckily, we were rescued pretty quickly. But it was an experience that taught me a few lessons.

Car vs life

During this time in my life, things were already crazy. I recently got into a major car accident that totaled my previous car. I was already afraid of driving again, then came this. My husband and I were also just at a busy time in our jobs, and we were busy at home doing little home improvement projects and still trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. It was just a time when my life was getting out of hand. In my life, I was running out of gas and didn’t realize it. I needed to sit back and think about what I could learn from this crazy experience:

Pay attention

I completely missed the gaslight and the “E” on the dashboard. Had I paid attention to it, I would’ve stopped to refill the gas tank and wouldn’t have run out. I missed the signs, and sometimes I do the same thing in my life. I miss the signs that I’m doing too much. I’m wearing myself too thin. Until it’s too late and I just run out of gas. I end up not putting things on my calendar. I miss important appointments. My family ends up eating out too much because I don’t plan our meals. And the list goes on. I have to force myself to realize that I’m starting to run out of gas.

It’s important to pay attention to yourself, your inner cues saying “slow down, and refuel”. Then, to actually do something about it!

Treat Yourself

It is important to me to have some alone time for “refueling” to happen. Instead of always stretching yourself in every direction to help others, it’s important to do something for yourself and/or by yourself in order to reset and refuel.  For me, this may not be a whole day alone. But just an hour in the morning or at night once everyone’s gone to sleep. To just do something that I love. It could be as simple as watching a good movie, reading a good book, a good laugh, or a friendly conversation.

Be pro-active

My husband says this all the time. And – I admit – he does a much better job at this than I do. I should’ve had a full tank of gas since I was traveling so far with 4 children.

In life, there are also so many other things I can do to prevent burnout. Things to prevent my physical self from running out of gas. I know these things, but don’t always do them consistently. Even though I know how good I feel when they’re done! Things like going to church and reading scripture regularly, filling out our family calendar, planning out my personal calendar nightly. Just being prepared ahead of time in general. They’re all small things that help me prevent overwhelm if I only do them.

This incident was a huge sign that I needed to refuel. I realized I hadn’t been as focused as usual. I was letting things slip by me that never used to before. Sometimes it takes drastic instances like this to happen in order for the refueling to occur. So, I started doing again what I knew worked for me in the past. I had never before run out of gas in my car, and haven’t since that incident! I work every day to prevent that from happening in my personal life. And I encourage you to do the same!

What about you?

Ever had a time when you were running out of gas in your life? Feel free to share in the comments below!

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