What's important?

I've been reading more of Wayne Cordeiro's book 'Leading on Empty'. There's a couple of chapters there where he talks about operating out of our strengths/passions rather than operating to fulfil a job description. He asks 2 questions:

1. What makes up your most important 5 percent? What's the stuff that God has given you that only you can do? Pastors can often fill their days with stuff that can be done perfectly well by someone else, but there is a small percentage (5%) that you are called to do - that's the most important 5 percent.
2. What fills you up and what drains you? What replenishes our soul and what empties it?

As I'm reading this I keep trying to think what my answers would be. It's pretty hard for me to think like this but maybe that is part of this journey for me. I need to think differently; that is, I need to start thinking about the stuff that I've not really thought about before. Most of my life I've spent trying to fit in with whatever role or task people wanted me to do. I tried to become all things to all people so that I would be more employable, more attractive to prospective churches (or employers). But there is within me a tension that I am coming to recognise, I don't want to be all things to all people. I don't want to 'fit in' with whatever anybody wants from me. I want to find something that I can be passionate about - something I could 'sell my soul to' and do that. I'm tired of playing chameleon to the vast variety of churches out there who want a Pastor to do anything and everything for them. I can't - I'm only one person and have the limitations that only one person has.

So here it is, the stuff I would die for, the stuff I would live for, the stuff that replenishes me, the most important 5%:

1. Relationships that inspire
2. Solitude - not the loner monk-in-the-desert type, or the 'loneliness' thing; but opportunities - space - to reflect and think.
3. Preaching and teaching - the idea of taking a biblical truth and explaining/applying it is always something I get a kick out of.
4. Prayer
5. My family - yes they drive me crazy sometimes but my world is richer for them.
6. Reading - when I left college I had read so much stuff I couldn't pick up a book for years - but I'm now starting to get back my love of books again.
7. Cooking
8. Sport - love watching it and getting along to games when I can. The Red Bull Air Race has been a favourite of mine ever since it came to Perth.
9. Things done right - especially when it comes to church - too often we compromise on quality, the cheaper coffee will do,  recycled furniture is OK, poorly rehearsed music is good enough. I don't believe in that - even the smallest church can to stuff well.

That's my list - so far - its pretty rough at the moment - it needs refining and articulating, but it's a start. And already I'm aware of how out of whack my last job was. I didn't fit very well at all. Now of course in any church/employment situation there has to be give and take, I'm not so naive as to assume that the perfect fit is out there for me. But I have to operate out of the core of who I am or things fall apart for me. And at my last church that wasn't happening, I was being asked to do stuff that didn't sit well with who I was - and I was being asked to do that all the time. No time for reflection or prayer for example - just go go go every minute of the day. I felt like I was suffocating inside.