Write Something Everyday

Those words spoken by my writing mentor Dr. Herb Marlow have proven to be truly challenging. For one reason or another daily writing has its challenges. I learned a couple of years ago that I don’t want to write everyday, so I adopted writing six days per week. Even with the less stringent task I’ve been unable to write something on my schedule for more than a couple of months.

“Progress not perfection” comes to mind also. Had the bar not been set at doing something on a daily basis, I’d never have reached writing at a minimum of five or six days per week. I would have taken a very casual approach to writing versus treating it as something that’s vital and profitable. It’s an act of self-discipline manifested. Putting forth consistent, concerted effort towards a specific task/objective.

Today, Tuesday, August 6, 2019, I am grateful that:

I’m beginning to feel like myself again. Saturday I think I got food poisoning. I’ve been physically feeling terrible for the past couple of days. I’m grateful that’s begun to subside.

I’ve established and am adhering to a budget. It’s a challenge and I do not enjoy that particular act of discipline, but it’s something worthwhile.

I don’t have to force things. Sometimes I force things to happen, like this list. Sometimes it’s not easy to list three things I’m grateful for. Sometimes it’s a challenge to list one or two but the benefits of doing it on a consistent basis is I’ve learned a bit about myself. I’ve learned I can walk away from the list for a bit and revisit, later in the day in fact. Most days my list only has three items, that’s the goal - like “write something everyday.” It’s an ideal. Sometimes I fall short, sometimes I surpass the ideal but the key is to strive for the ideal. Should I force it I put an unnecessary need for perfection upon myself and the point of the list is to set my mind on a path of gratitude and service before facing the world.

Be Impactful!