How Many Times?

How many times have YOU started a blog, said you would be better at writing more often, maybe even bought a domain to try to “light the fire,” and then did 5 posts and thought.... “meh, I’ll do it tomorrow.” Or maybe it’s another commitment in your life like..losing weight (heaven knows that’s one of mine,) starting that new hobby you’ve always wanted to try, making your kids’ photo books or sending thank you cards from your wedding...which was 7 years ago and now seems pointless because THEY probably don’t even remember what they gave you at this point.

Well, I guess this is that post then. That “re-commitment post.” But...to be honest I don’t want to put those quotation marks around re-commitment. Maybe after watching the movie Julie and Julia, or I Can Only Imagine, or Forever Strong this week while I was sick in bed with the flu, REALLY put a fire under my butt about FINDING our passions and GOING for it!  And knowing we will have setbacks along the way and moments we want to give up, will make it that much sweeter when those commitments are fulfilled like we wanted them to be. (And if you haven’t seen those movies, I highly recommend them!)

Let’s make something clear though. I. Am. Not. A. Bawl. Baby. Okay? It’s not that I don’t feel emotion, and maybe I just trained myself not to cry because I didn’t want my makeup to run,  but when I’m watching a movie in the theater I just DON’T cry. Any other mama’s out there like me? I mean...if not, that’s cool, but I just wanted to set the foreground for where I’m going here.

Today I watched, for the first time, the movie “I Can Only Imagine.” When I first started it, I was HONESTLY thinking... “is this going to be one of those movies that everyone cries about..?” And being sick has been REAL boring folks! Doc said not to go out of the house because I was definitely contagious and I am NO home body! I like adventure and getting out of my house/getting things done around my house. Guys, I ACTUALLY cooked dinner today because I was so bored! #neverhavetime

So, I’m watching this movie, not really into it at first, and after a little bit it started to get a little deep. It pulled at my heart strings a little and sucked me in like a kid licking his popsicle clean. I was absolutely glued to this movie! And I cried. Yes, people of the internet, Nicole Neff cried like a toddler, because let’s get something straight....toddlers can be a whole lot harder to console than a baby when  they’ve lost their favorite brown dinosaur, am I right? But really, this movie got to me. A movie about forgiveness, dreams, God, love, and music. Yeah, this movie REALLY  got me, and not because I went through what he went through or anything, but because I have this crazy..I don’t know if you’d call it a superpower or talent...but I always seem to find a way to relate my life and my beliefs to the people in movies and what they are going through. I think a lot of us do this, and we may not even realize it! And I don’t want to give away the whole movie if you haven’t seen it yet, but his Dad tells him that he shouldn’t go for his dream. And do you know what I realized? I’m the one saying that to myself.....

Gosh! Why do we do that? Why are we self deprecating? And why do we tell ourselves that we can’t!? Did you know that we are only using about 10% of our brains’ actual capacity? And we are using even less when we decide to tell ourselves that we’re “not worthy of our dreams.” Again, with the quotation marks! STOP IT!

We are better than that! And we need to stop re-committing and just commit. Each day you wake up and each door you pass through might mean you forget your purpose a little, but just stop...for a minute...wherever you are and just think for a second about something you’ve wanted to accomplish; something that has been a goal for a LONG time for you. And I invite you to commit to it. Write about it. Talk about it. Read about it. Think about it. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Because it’s not going to happen tomorrow, or next year, or in 5 years, or when your kids are in school, or when they’re out of the house. I invite you to make it happen NOW! No, not overnight! Heavens no. But if you don’t start now, when will you REALLY start? How Many Times have you started and given up? How about we don’t do the “giving up” part this time, huh? ...(I did those quotation marks again.)

And here it is! My commitment: to blog my thoughts of positive self talk, with hopes that it may serve others to remember their self worth and ability to make their lives into something more than they’d ever dreamed!

I’m only starting with one commitment for now, because getting too many on our plates all at once can ALSO be self deprecating. I’m starting here. I’m starting now. And I’m excited to share it with all of you!