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Why not just show up and write a little something and actually post it to your blog? Well, that’s what I think I’m going to try to do more often.



Like most of the writer/blogger friends I have, I struggle with just showing up and doing the work. I have a lot of thoughts about the writing life, and none of them seem to be unique or new. Someone posted in a Facebook group recently asking if anyone else had ever considered that their ”reader” might actually be themselves - perhaps a younger self. The response was a resounding YES! My own response among those. Like everything else, there are always various approaches to a thing, and they often seem to contradict one another. Who a writer’s audience is being one of those “things”. Realizing I was not the only one who felt that their most affective writing would be directed at a younger version of themselves freed me mentally to follow that path a bit. And the more I go down that path, the more I find that it feels like a good fit.

Still, I have to show up and do the work. To do that I have to let go of the hope that I will write something perfect. Seriously, I need to let go of the idea that I even can write something perfect. That’s not the point; it never was and it never will be the point of my writing. Or anyone else’s writing for that matter.

I’m just going to jump in and start with this - 15 things I would discuss with my younger self. It’s just a quick list and maybe I’ll come back and expound on each a little. Or maybe I won’t. These are in no particular order.

  1. Boundaries
  2. Happiness responsibility
  3. Sugar coating and omission is still lying
  4. Learn to recognize manipulation - don’t do it and don’t fall for it.
  5. Directness
  6. Take care of your body, it is the only one you’re ever going to have
  7. Expectations - there is a lot to understand about them and how they direct our attitude and behaviors.
  8. Read the Bible, read it again. Then keep reading it again and again and again
  9. Take those people who urge you to spend quiet time with God every single day first thing very seriously. It is the single most effective habit you can do to help your life. 
  10. It’s not about you
  11. Gratitude truly is the antidote to discontentment. 
  12. Nature - spend as much time outdoors enjoying nature as you possibly can.
  13. Be willing to change your opinion when you learn better. Be willing to change direction when you do.
  14. Speak the truth with love. 
  15. Love is mostly a verb, and a choice. 

I’m quite certain there is more to add to this list. Maybe it will be the springboard for a series of posts. Maybe this is just what I needed to show up and do the work.

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