Back At It

After not writing a blog post in 2 weeks, I wanted to return with a post about a few thoughts on how to stick with something.

I don’t know what the future holds. There might be something in my life that happens that gives me a good reason to stop blogging, but it’s always a choice to continue or not. Let me be clear, if you start and stop something it is okay. We all will decide to stop dozens of things in our life. That’s just a part of life. It’s the things that we continue that are significant. Those things were important enough to make sacrifices for. The things we do for years are the things that signify where our attention truly lies. Remember, if you give something up that you really wanted to continue, it just means that there isn’t space for it in your life at the moment.

Let me give you an example from my life. I’ve said for the past 8 months that I was going to get back into running and going to the gym. It hasn’t happened yet. I ran once or twice, but did not continue. Life has been busy, my wife and I had a baby, work has been demanding, and I’m involved at my church. On top of that, I’m trying out this content creation thing, my wife is in grad school and working full time, and we are generally over committed in most areas of life.

Do I feel like a failure because I haven’t gotten back into a workout routine, no. I’ve learned to acknowledge that that is something I just don’t have capacity for. Also, it’s something I’m not currently willing to make space for. In the past, I’ve seen this as a sign that I am undisciplined, or lazy, or not tough enough. While some of these things are true at times, they are not who I am. There are plenty of things in my life that I exude these traits. We are all human, and we all have a limit to what we can take on. Yes, I envy those who seem to be able to do it all, but I’m also aware that balancing work, family, friends, and health is a learned skill. Like any skill, it takes time to get better. So the best thing to do is, acknowledge where you are at and be okay with that. Be proud that you are being self-aware and honest. Then, work on improving the areas you feel called to improve. For me, I want to improve the areas of family and my career.

I’m going to leave this one short. I find it easiest to lower the barrier to entry when you fall off the intended course for a bit. The only way to quit is to stop getting back up when you fall down. This is me getting back up. Who knows what the next few days hold? Today, I continued being a content creator, and that feels good and in alignment with my values and goals.