Look out below!

I do believe I've gone and jumped off the deep end.

There. I've said it. I feel much better now.

Why would I make such a grandiose statement, besides the obvious reason that it just sounds really cool? I'll tell you. Last Friday I completely purged myself of my church-going obligations. I quit the Sunday Services Committee and I resigned from the Board of Directors. All within a 30-minute time span to boot.

And I've got to tell you ... I feel great!!

I've spent the past four years in a serious identity crisis. As I relayed in this blog last week, I struggled with my role as a stay-at-home Dad and constantly searched outside the home for some sort of identity. I ended up placing the majority of my energy and enthusiasm in church related activities. This is not a bad place to focus your energy. You are, after all, helping to nurture a community and working toward peace and justice in the world. The problem wasn't that I gave my time and energy to the church. The real problem was the amount of time that I gave.

I joined every committee imaginable, signed on with the Board and also volunteered to lead the church's pledge drive. I get tired just reading that last sentence! Not surprisingly, I absolutely flamed out and desperately needed to come up for air. I was a super-awesome Board member and stuff, but I was completely overwhelmed. I needed to make a change and fast.

This, however, would require facing my lifelong nemisis. The dreaded "Q" word - Quitting!

I am constantly haunted by that horrible word. It seems like my life has been one long quitting fest. I quit football in high school. I also quit drama my senior year. I quit my first job as a journalist. I quit my second job. I eventually quit the journalism profession altogether.

Quit. Quit. Quit!!

Well, I finally realized something last week. I may have quit all those things, but I did it for very good reasons. Basically I was miserable. So why would I continue being miserable? The same logic applied to my church burnout situation. Why would I continue making myself miserable simply because I was afraid to quit?

When I thought of it this way, everything made sense. I knew what I had to do.

I fired up the laptop, sent off a couple of letters of resignation, and set my soul free. I've been flying high ever since. I know I'll return to church service in the future, but for now I'm content to sit on the sidelines. Recharge the old batteries for a while.

Before I sign off for today, I'd like to share one last epiphany with you. I may have "quit" a number of unimportant endeavors, but I never quit the things that truly matter. I never quit being a husband and I never quit being a father. I'm very proud of that. It's quite an empowering moment when you realize your priorities are exactly where they should be.

So here I am, jumping off the deep end and having a blast. Come in and join me. The water's fine.

Find your bliss kiddies!

- Dave