dirty little secrets

Dirty little secrets. We all have them. Some we may never choose to tell. But sometimes it can be cathartic to share. So here goes....

The real story behind writing my first blog post. Imagine a horror music score playing in the background.

How long did it take me to write yesterday's post? At least an hour, maybe two. How many times did I lose the entire post that I finally published yesterday? Twice. Once is understandable, maybe. Twice is stupid. Especially if you've been warned to do something simple and basic by your tech savvy child, if you're lucky enough to have one of those. I do. And I didn't listen. If I had only done the smart thing and first written it as a word document and saved it. But no, I had to write directly on the blog...

Dirtly little secret #1. Sometimes I convince myself I know what I'm doing when I really don't have a clue.
Dirty little secret #2. I'm technologically challenged in a major way.
Dirty little secret #3. Sometimes I don't listen to perfectly reasonable advice because... see dirty little secret #1.

I feel so relieved to get that off my chest. I am writing this post first on a word document. Now I've earned some bragging rights.

I've come a long way, baby. As a kid, I started lots of things. I was the great beginner. I never finished most of my projects. When frustrated or upset, I actually banged my head against the wall, or so my mother tells me. I must have damaged the links in the brain to those memories via the head banging. With some maturity I learned the qualities of faith and patience, which I'm still working hard to refine and further develop. For proof, read on...

I was majorly upset when I lost the first post attempt. I cursed. I got incredibly annoyed, but then I sat down and rewrote the whole thing. The second time, I really almost lost it. Especially when the International Critics Choir started singing. You've heard them perform before, right? They're a top notch group. Some of their hits are “You're Such an Idiot,” “Who Told You You Could Do This?,” “Forget the Whole Idea- You Don't Have What it Takes,” and “Go Bang Your Head Against the Wall.”

After a major pout where I almost reverted and followed the instructions in the last song title, I sat down yet again to reconstruct what I wrote. And I think it was better. Yes, I'm proud. I stuck with it. I was determined to get that blog started, despite dirtly little secret #2. Practice doesn't make perfect, ( I am anti-perfectionism, such a waste of time) but it makes for much improved.

To do anything worthwhile, you need a very healthy dose of perserverance. Tons of folks give up after the first obstacle or challenge. More give up after the next couple. A few really fine folks give up just when they are about to succeed. If they only knew they were 83% or 97% of the way there. Yet one of the hardest things is that we often don't know when we are so so close to the goal.

So restart something today that you have given up on. I dare you. You may be closer than you think. And even if you have a long long way to go, you can learn from and be inspired by some of the world masters.

Check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0DRk8dFjI