I will never forget when I first got my driver’s license. It’s the pinnacle moment in a teenager’s life when independence becomes tangible. Dreaming of cruising the open road with my friends took up most of my time—and not just cruising, but cruising in style; driving a beast of a machine down the road, making everybody’s head turn. My beast turned out to be a 1988 blue Ford Escort. I squeezed my bank account dry and paid eight hundred dollars for my smooth ride. It may not have been the red Lamborghini that a teenage boy dreams of, but I was so proud of that car. 

With a new car came new responsibilities. It was time to get a job to pay for all of this new independence. So I decided to spread my wings that summer and move to the city to work a job that paid more than I could make in my small hometown. Of course, still being in high school, I needed a roommate while in the city. I was feeling the freedom now. My blue Escort, a job in the city, making more money than I ever had before, a roommate…my grandma. While living with Grandma that summer, I worked at a carpet warehouse that a friend of mine set me up with. The warehouse was a pretty good distance from Grandma’s house, and I learned that long commutes can become monotonous and a burden on my gas tank. Gas may have been cheap back then, but it wasn’t cheap for a teenager; even a teenager with a job in the city. So one day after work I decided to break up the monotony and find a shorter way to drive back to Grandmas and hopefully conserve some gas—my first mistake. 

I didn’t know my way around the city very well, but I thought I could rely on my superb navigational skills—my second mistake. A trip that should have taken me twenty-five minutes turned into a three-hour tour of the greater metropolitan area. Typical male tendencies kicked in early in my life and I decided that I didn’t want to stop and ask for directions—my third mistake. I reasoned that if I got myself into this mess, I could get myself out of it. If I could just give it a little more time surely something would start to look familiar. If this had been modern day, I would have simply pulled out my cell phone and used my GPS, but these were pre-cell phone days, and there was no Siri to help me navigate through this problem. 

By this point in the journey, my fourth and biggest mistake was beginning to become clear to me. In all of my scheming to find a way to conserve my precious fuel, I had forgotten to check my gas gauge before I left work. If I had, I would have seen the need for a fill-up. Fast-forward a few hours and by now I was riding on fumes. The bad thing was that my wallet was running on fumes too––no green to be seen. I was a teenager, so I didn’t have a debit card or any other means of payment. I had no way at all to get any money. As the panic was starting to set in, I noticed a payphone up ahead. I searched every crack and crevice of my car hoping to find loose change to make my call but came up with nothing. Staring out the window, debating on what to do, I spotted my hope of getting out of this mess: a homeless man just a few feet from the payphone. 

I got out of my car and asked if I could bum a quarter off of him. He obviously felt I needed it more than he did, and he gave me a quarter. I called Grandma, and thankfully she answered. She arranged for a friend of hers that lived nearby to bring me gas and help me get home. Problem solved thanks to a homeless man and my first roommate. I learned many lessons that day, but the one that sticks out the most is: it takes a lot of gas if you want to keep going.

Just like a car needs a continual refiling of gas, so do we. You can’t expect to drive 500 miles without pulling over to a gas station to refuel. Your life operates on the same principle. Without consistent refueling, you’ll eventually break down. You need to identify and be intentional about doing what fills your tank. Everyone’s motivational tank takes different types of fuel. You need to know what your fuel is specifically. And then make sure you schedule it in as often as you can. If listening to podcasts fuels you, make a plan to have a daily intake. If a certain hobby refreshes you, schedule it consistently. If getting away by doing some traveling resets you, make sure you budget it in and schedule it regularly. Don’t go more than a few days without refueling your tank.

Rest is essential in the race of life. In fact, you can’t become all you’re capable of without keeping a groove in the rhythm of rest and recovery. But when you understand how to live in the complete rhythm of success you can go further than you ever thought imaginable. 

What are you doing to refill your tank?