Backwash It Out

     "Backwash It Out” – that’s the theme of my vacation this year. Sitting in beautiful Topsail Island, NC, and I’m thinking about backwash. Lovely, isn’t it? Actually I’m thinking about the process I went through backwashing a friend’s pool for 3 weeks. It goes something like this – there’s a delicate balance in maintaining the pool water between the pH, chlorine, vacuuming and a host of other variables. Even when you are diligent with pool care, things like algae and bacteria grow. Therefore, there is a filter system in place. First, the pool water flows through a filter that traps the big stuff, and then the water runs through a hose where it goes to the pump. The pump brings it to another filter that removes algae and other "stuff" you may not see. Then clean water is re-circulated back into the pool. (That description may not be 100% technically accurate, but that's the gist of it.) All of the algae and "stuff" that was trapped has to come out of the pump hose some way; thus backwashing. You have to turn the pump off, turn the knob to backwash, and all of the nasty stuff in the pump hose flushes out through another hose and into the yard. And I mean nasty – green, small debris, disgusting… Once the water runs clear again, you do a rinse cycle to make sure all of the nasty is out of the line, then you put it back to the filter setting to start the process over again. This process is repeated about every other day to allow the pool pump and filter to operate at its optimum. And if you don’t backwash the pump, it can clog up the system causing the whole thing to fail.
 

      So as I was trying to downshift from everyday life to vacation mode, I kind of felt like I was in “no man’s land”. Ever feel that way – sort of mentally and emotionally clogged up? Like if you had to make one more decision or fight one more battle, you might just cease to operate. I realized I needed to just get rid of all the stuff that was clogging me up. Think about it - how often do we really backwash our lives? Our lives run at a delicate balance. We have to balance our faith, family, work, time, priorities, relationships, money, and more all at once. Each area impacts our lives and one thing can throw everything off balance - financial difficulty, rebellious child, marital problems, failing health, relationship issues, job loss, too many things coming at us at once…. As much as we try to keep the balance, "stuff" creeps in. Sometimes we see it, like the green algae on the side of the pool; other times we don’t see it at all, like the bacteria floating through the water. Regardless, in the process it’s being trapped in a filter and actually - it's trapping us.

      What do we do with it? Pool pumps don’t automatically backwash. Someone has to intentionally go through the process and make it happen. We’re the same way. We have to intentionally take time to wash out, or let go, of all that “stuff” that is clogging our lives so we can operate at our optimum. I’m not talking about the big stuff, although that is really important too. But I mean the little stuff – the annoyances that we hold onto, the way we let our circumstances rule us, the bitterness that we have allowed to take root, the pride that is covering our insecurities, the control we use to try and cancel out our fears, the anger and the walls that are destroying our relationships, the anxiety and the worry of wondering how everything is going to turn out, the addictions we use to cope. If we don’t backwash that stuff out of our lives, it will destroy us. It will eat us up from the inside out, and we will eventually fail. We can’t control everything, but we can choose to control what we hold onto and let reign in our lives. We can choose to take the time to backwash out the gunk before it clogs us into disrepair.

      This vacation, as I’m sitting on the beach, I’m choosing to backwash out the stuff. I’m focusing on God – He is my source of strength and stability – and I am focusing on my family – they are my main priority and the gift that God has given me. I’m backwashing out what has been clogging my lifelines and making me ineffective in my relationships. I encourage you to do that too. Maybe you can’t take a week vacation, but you can take an afternoon or a lunch-time vacation – its okay to take that time to yourself and process. Think, be honest with yourself, re-set your filters so you can go at optimum performance. What is it that is clogging your life line? What is keeping you stuck that you need to backwash out? I encourage you to find out what it is and start the backwash process.

 

~ What can you do when things go out of balance?  How can you rid of yourself of the gunk that creeps in and threatens to shut you down?  Set your filter to backwash and flush out the gunk that is trapping you. Let freshness and clarity be re-circulated back into your life. ~