In life, we are either reservoirs or waterfalls.
During some seasons, we fill up with everything that teachers and mentors and friends and co-workers and life-lessons have poured into us. Some of these lessons were good. Others were hard. But we’re gaining as we go.
Other times, we’re more like waterfalls. For our job or our families or other commitments, we’re pouring out of ourselves into others. We teach a new skill or give a kind word. We have to extend the hard grace of discipline. We share a lesson, hoping to prevent someone else from learning it the hard way as we had to do.
Sometimes, we’re a mixture of both. A reservoir at school, a waterfall at home. Or the reverse. And sometimes, we’re moving from one to the other.
Pros and Cons
And it’s not that one is better than the other. Both are very valuable ways to live. Good and hard all mixed together, as real life always is.
Reservoirs are self-contained. They tend to be growing all the time. They are major resources, obviously of water, but in real life of knowledge or talent or skill. A physical reservoir is often a place that benefits others, too. As a water supply, obviously, but also for swimming or boating. Families gather there. Fun is had. It’s a good place to be.
But they’re also stuck. If they don’t get fresh input, they turn stagnant. And they can be a place of privilege, too. Only the people near them get to use them. A reservoir can actually separate people.
Waterfalls are constantly moving, which means they don’t put down roots. But they bring new water (and life and knowledge and whatever else) to new places. They are beautiful to watch, but dangerous to go over. They can sweep you away if you aren’t well anchored.
In Between
I don’t know which one your life is more like today. Me, I’m more in-between.
For years now, I’ve been a waterfall, pouring primarily into my kids’ lives. They’ve been the focus of the majority of my energy. But in other areas, I’ve been a reservoir. My writing and teaching has been mostly still, a giant collection of all that I’ve learned until now. While I have worked and written and taught, they were more like trickles, sneaking out in random places with no real plan or purpose driving them.
And now I’m feeling the switch. A call to be more intentional about pouring out all that others have poured into me. To let more of myself go, as terrifying as that sounds (to me, at least).
Being Waterfalls and Reservoirs
Either way, whether you’re solidly in one season or moving from one to the other, I wanted to assure you that you’re in a good place. Waterfalls and reservoirs are both important seasons. Where you are now … it’s good.
Letting others pour into you is grace. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s so necessary. And pouring yourself intentionally into others’ lives is life-giving in its own way.
But whether we are reservoirs or waterfalls, we have the opportunity to do good where we are. It might look different for each of us, but it’s real. And it will be worth it.
So wherever you are right now, be all in because, whether you’re filling up or pouring out, reservoirs and waterfalls are both worthwhile seasons. And God is doing good things in and through you today.
