Prince tennis racquets had a great TV commercial some years back. It might have been borderline sacrilegious. It still made me laugh.
It showed a handsome, athletic-looking tennis player armed with a nice, large Prince racquet, getting ready for a match with…God. God’s racquet was barely larger than the tennis ball. But, the commercial explained, if you’re God, you don’t need a large tennis racquet. Mere mortals, however, can benefit from one. (The sacrilegious part of the commercial came when the tennis player rocketed a forehand winner past the diving God, who grudgingly said “nice shot” while striking His opponent dead.)
Big tennis racquets provide big sweet spots. The sweet spot on a tennis racquet, baseball bat, golf club, etc., is the part of the equipment that average athletes like me don’t use nearly often enough. But on those rare occasions I do, the crisp feel of the contact in my hands and the result of the shot (an ace that catches the line, a home run, a soaring tee shot) combine to make me watch in amazement and say, “Sweet!” I think that’s how the spot got its name.
Your life has a sweet spot too. You’ve hit the sweet spot in your life when you do something that is meaningful, fulfilling and fun all at the same time – and you’ve done it well. Your sweet spot is found at the intersection of your personality, gifts, passions, talents, life experiences. These factors come together to help guide you into all aspects of life. They can guide you into an occupation that isn’t just a job but a life calling. They can lead you into volunteer work that is truly fulfilling. They can help you say no (without guilt) to worthy causes as often as they help you say yes. Knowledge of them will enable you to recognize and affirm the sweet spots of others.
My philosophy for my work as a pastor is to spend as much time in my sweet spot as possible. I try to spend the majority of my time doing the things I do well, the things that energize me, that make me excited about getting up in the morning. There are other people who get excited about the things I don’t, and can do them much better than I can anyway. At Prince of Peace, we believe that all the people in our church and community are here for a reason. We all have our distinct mix of gifts, our unique sweet spot. One of our main goals is to help people have that sweet feeling more often. We provide training and evaluative tools for people to assess themselves and find out that serving God can mean doing what you’re really good at, and what you love to do best of all.
For more information about how to find your “Sweet Spot” in life, go to www.placeministries.org.
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