When Maintaining a Blog is Hard!!
I have desired to create a blog for years. I wanted to share my life experiences in the hope of encouraging others. I wanted other people, especially other women to know that if I could endure and overcome, so could they. After getting over my initial fear and stepping out on faith, I envisioned I would be posting weekly. My plan was to post at least twice a week.
The first weekly post would serve as encouragement. The thing is, I have been sending out emails for a couple of years sporadically to encourage women in the Village. To learn more about the Village please read previous blog post Kitchen Conversations With Jesus: My Vision. However, at the beginning of 2021, I decided to send out official newsletters instead of the LONG emails. When I first started I would send them out weekly on Tuesday, but formatting the newsletters became too time consuming and I felt that transitioning to an online platform would make things easier. It would also be beneficial to have a central location where everything is stored and I could reach more people that were not apart of the Village.
The second post would be an update of my progress on my weight loss journey. Since starting my journey in April 2020 I have tried to be transparent and document the good, the bad and the ugly of this journey. My intention was to show people that while this journey is not easy it's DEFINITELY worth it. I wanted to share my workouts, my food diary and any tips I've learned. It would help me to stay accountable and motivated, as well as inspire others with their weight loss goals.
As you can see, I am a big dreamer in my head. I am able to come up with visions and ideas of what I SHOULD do, but I struggle with getting from the vision stage to actual execution. It's the process of getting from A to Z where I get overwhelmed, distracted and a little lost.
What is overwhelming you might ask?? ALL OF IT!! No seriously, there are so many things that overwhelm me when it comes to creating and maintaining this blog. For starters, finding time to actually sit down and get all the thoughts from out my brain or out of my journal onto the actual computer. Either I have poor time management skills or there is not enough time in the day. It really annoys me when I hear people say, "we all have the same 24 hours in a day". I mean, yeah that might be true, but we are all juggling different balls. A couple of balls that I am juggling right now are kids, work, husband, church, working out, and household duties, just to name a few. Not to mention other levels of distractions in life that suck up my time. In no way am I trying to use my hectic life and my schedule as an excuse, I'm just explaining what has overwhelmed me while maintaining this blog.
Another thing that has overwhelmed me is knowing what I should share and what I should keep private. While I believe sharing my struggles and how I overcame them could serve as encouragement, my husband does not feel the same. There are times that I've been transparent about how God has moved in my life, and my husband has felt like it was too personal. When you share your life with someone else you have to be conscious of what you post. Having to second guess myself and worry about my husband's reactions to my truths have stifled this entire process.
Not to mention, that even though I have TECHNICALLY stepped out of the boat and I feel like I'm walking on water, there are times when I still struggle with fear. There are still voices of doubt in my head that I have to silence with God's Word and His promises. I still question whether what I have to share is relevant. I mean, who really wants to read what I have to write, right? I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be able to ACTUALLY walk in, and live out the visions God has shown me.
Maintaining this blog is overwhelming. Being vulnerable and putting myself out there for others to comment on my life and critique me is overwhelming. Worrying about if the grammar police will get me for not spelling something correctly or not putting a punctuation mark in the right place is overwhelming. But at the end of the day, even when things get overwhelming, this is what I've been called to do, I am determined to not give up.
Recently, like VERY recently, I started working with a Wellness Coach. I acknowledged my areas of weakness and decided to get help to better myself. While I have not attended many sessions, there are some things that I have learned. One thing I've learn is to set realistic goals. Once you've established your goals, you create steps to reach that goal. You also evaluate areas that will distract you and come up with ways to combat those distractions.
Goal: My goal is to send out 2 blog posts a week. Every Tuesday I will post something that would encourage, uplift and inspire. Every Saturday I will post an update about my weight loss journey. (If I'm led to write additional blog posts that's fine, but it is not a requirement, so I could alleviate the pressure I put on myself).
Practical Steps to Achieve My Goal:
Write 2 blog posts each week on Tuesday and Saturday.
Set aside time to actually complete the post.
When writing out your steps, it helps if they are simple and precise.
Strategies to Combat Distractions and Hindrances:
Not Having Enough Time to Write: My strategy is to create a writing schedule and stick to it. I plan to set aide 2 hours on Monday to write and 2 hours on Saturday to write. If there are things with life that interrupt my writing process on those days my alternative plan is to write during my lunch break. I also, downloaded the Blog App on my phone, so I don't have to wait to get home to my computer to blog, I could blog anytime God downloads something or I'm inspired to write. Putting steps in place will assist me on staying consistent with getting the posts out each week.
Second Guessing What to Share: I have to always be authentic and honest with every post. While it's important to be considerate of my husband's feelings, I can't allow his voice or the voices of others to be louder than my own voice or the leading of the Holy Spirit. I have to understand that God placed this blog in my Spirit for a reason; those who are intended to receive it and understand it will.
Getting Overwhelmed With Doubts: I have to be prepared for doubts to come. I know myself well enough to know that I am an overthinker. I have to silence those voices in my head with the word of God. God did not give me the Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Walking in your calling or doing what you've been purposed to do is not always easy; in fact it could be downright overwhelming. However, I want to encourage you as I encourage myself to not allow distractions, hindrances or obstacles to stand in your way. Whatever it is God has placed on your heart to do, DO IT!! For me, it was something simple like starting this blog to encourage people through my life experiences, for you, it might be starting a new business, going back to school or operating in full time ministry. Whatever your IT is, I pray you walk in it. Ask for help if you need. Find someone to help you set goals and develop steps and strategies to achieve it. Please don't give up on yourself, the world needs what God placed inside of you. Be blessed!!
