And DONE!

Truth be told, cookies would have been
great incentives to blog

I did it.

31 one days of consecutively posting 500 words.

Yes, it really has been 31 days. And no, I did not miss a single one.

Cue the victory music here.  I choose the Rocky theme song, even though I’ve never seen the movie.

 Perfect victory song, don't you agree?

Anyway, a thought hit me yesterday as I was trying to sleep.  I went out of my way to make sure that I got the blog post done. Many nights, I sat at my computer for what felt like long stretches of time in an attempt to get 500 words down, just so I could say I did it. It may have been late. I may not have always been feeling well – or feeling inspired, for that matter.  And yet I had to get it done.  I had to say something. Or so I thought.

It’s called discipline. And I am capable of it. 

But when it comes to more important things, I tend to struggle a bit more. 

“I’m too sick and out of it to read Scripture and journal”.  That thought went through my head on more than one occasion this past week. 

But did you notice that I didn’t miss my blog post?  And really, what’s more important; blogging or journaling/reading Scripture?

Hmmm…  I am capable of exercising discipline.  I just don’t always exercise it. 

And I don’t think it’s a case of I just need to sit down and forcing myself to do it; that only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause of why I’m not doing something. That requires a little more thought on my part.

I want to say that blogging gives me feedback. I know how many people are reading what I write. I have conversations about the things I say, or, at the very least, praise and compliments for things I’ve written. What does reading Scripture and journaling get me? 

Oh, it gets me plenty, if I really stop and reflect.  Through that time, God speaks to me, answers questions I’ve had, and it’s a time where I can process what I’m thinking and what God has to say about it.

And yet … I still struggle to pick up my pen, open my Bible and read, pray, think and write. 

It’s frustrating to say the least.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that I am able to force words out of myself if I need to.  But really, do I need to?  Some of the posts I wrote over the past month have been quite good. Others … not so much.  So if there’s a second lesson I’m picking up from this exercise is that I should only write when I have something to say, and not simply because I feel like I have to say something.

That, and not having to post every single day will free up quite a bit of time to be productive doing other things. Like dishes. 

Which, come to think of it, never quite seem to go away.  Ever.

So where does that leave me?  I'm not leaving the blogosphere, so rest easy.  However, I am going to try to be more intentional with my time. And with my words.  

Stay tuned ...