It’s Another Birthday!!!

‘Where does the time go?’, we sometimes ask.

Every week, when I need to figure out what to write, I know where the time goes as I ponder what I am meant to write and who even cares.

Some weeks are easier than others. Some weeks, I wonder if there is an end date for ‘PurposefulMe’ labour of love. But thankfully those thoughts soon give way to a desire to keep writing.

So as PurposefulMe Blog reaches yet another milestone, I can’t but reflect on how the past THREE years have been. So what are my lessons?

One step at a time

By step, I mean one blog post at a time. Can you imagine if I had sat down three years ago and decided to come up with the posts for the next three years. I would have had to come up with over one hundred and fifty ideas.

Trust me, if I had tried to do that, you wouldn’t be reading this post because it would be too daunting for me to even start. 

As they say, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So whatever goals or plans you have, break them into bite size chunks and just start with a week or two in mind and repeat. And repeat.

Trust

I wait for divine inspiration so I can’t take full credit for the posts that I write. This process involves a great deal of trust, knowing that even if it’s in the last hour, the message will come to me.

This is not an excuse for me not to prepare or do my research. I find that the inspiration meets me halfway and sheds a light for the rest of the process.

It starts with a willingness to ask, ‘what shall I write?’, a desire to wait and listen for a response and this is then followed by obedience. Then my work brings that bit of creation to life.

So whatever you need to do, have a little faith and start trusting.

The race is not always a sprint

We have to be willing to stay in the race for the long haul. During the world athletics events, for me, the most exciting events were always the 100 metres, two hundred metre events and 4 by 100 metre relay races.

In the events with Usain Bolt, the excitement was palpable. Getting a drink or a dash to the toilet would just have to wait as I didn’t want to miss any bit of it. The race was finished within seconds and I would watch the analysis over and over again.

On the other hand, for the marathon events, I would change the channel, go make a snack and come back, knowing they would still be there.

Many projects would be so much easier if they were over in a flash but that’s not always possible.

We must be willing to be in the game for the long haul and remember that both the sprints and the marathon require hard-work, dedication, and willingness to pay the price.

Have a wobble but don’t give up

‘Are there weeks when I wish I didn’t have to write something?’, Absolutely. There are weeks I’m tempted to miss the odd post, after all, no one is holding a gun to my head. 

Many times I travel to places with patchy network or have really busy schedules. Surely those are understandable weeks to not have to write a post. Maybe so, but that’s why the Blog platform has a scheduling functionality.

I realise I can allow an excuse if I want to but where there’s a will, there is often a way. If you find yourself not achieving your goals, challenge your assumptions and excuses.

Be thankful regardless…

Some weeks, the stats boom and I’m over the moon. Other weeks, the stats crawl and it’s like watching a caterpillar trying to climb a mountain. At those times, a nagging ‘lie’ tries to creep in asking whether it’s worth it.

Disappointment tries to come through the side door. Faith and determination push back real hard and you get through the night and wake up to what, sometimes, can only be a miracle. The beauty of it is that weeks and months after a post, I get a message thanking me for it.

My big lesson is to be thankful always and stay committed to the process, never giving up. Don’t allow for yo-yo responses, see life as a long game where you win if you don’t give up.

In closing, I want to share this celebratory moment with you, the readers, and thank you for sparing your time to share this experience with me. Peace and love.