Small Things

HEYYYY...  I'm back.  It's been a lonnnnnggg while since I've posted anything, BUT I'm feeling inspired again.  

It has been a while.  Honestly, I LOVE this blog, but I'm not a "real" blogger so sometimes I don't do what I love to do because I feel inferior, I feel less than, I feel not enough.  You know what I really LOVE???  Getting my thoughts out of my head and pounding the keys of the keyboard in the process.  It feels like letting the air out of a balloon slowly.  Releasing the pressure of all the jumbled thoughts and ideas that are rolling around in my head.  It feels so good to get them out and it makes me HAPPY when I know that someone out there relates.  That's why I started this blog long ago, because I LOVE it.  I want to blog, but I'm not a real blogger so I quit.  I don't fancy myself a writer, I just fancy myself a woman who loves to share my thoughts with other women...  I don't use commas correctly and I don't have perfect grammar, so I let those things keep me from doing something that I LOVE to do.  Getting over this is something that I am working on... because I LOVE this blog... have I over stated that?

Anyhoo, enough of that.   Time to move on to the jumbled up thoughts in my head today.  Small things, showing up, committing to a thing for the long run, that is on my mind today.  

Like most of America I started this year out with New Year's resolutions, because, well you know how it is, I had things in my life that needed to change.  I had bad habits I was sick of having and I had good habits that I wanted to start.  Like most Americans I could look back at my track record of sticking to my NY resolutions and see that something needed to change.  I never stick to my resolutions, but this year I was just sick of me enough that I knew I wanted things to be different this year.  I got on Amazon and searched for a book about habits... and I found a gem and I want to share a few small things from the book that have made a big impact on my life.  

The book is called "Atomic Habits" by James Clear.  This book is the reason that I sat down at the computer today to do something I love.  It's the reason I feel like I can start over, it's the reason I feel hope that I won't give up this time.  So, go check it out.  

I've always had goals, we all do, but my goals never seemed to amount to much.  I had goals to save money, I had goals to lose weight and goals to get in shape, I had goals to see better results with homeschooling and I had goals to be a better home-manager...  Goals have never been my problem.  As Clear states from the beginning... we all have goals, but it's our systems that are not working.  We need a new system to achieve the results that we want.  He talks about how the long term, end goal, the big picture is the thing that gets us tripped up.  Instead of having an end goal we should concentrate on becoming a person who is always improving.  That's great advice, but the thing that inspired me the most is the amount of the improvement.  Clear says that we get overwhelmed with trying to make too many big changes at once, changes that we can't possibly maintain.  For example, if you have formally been a couch potato and you jump up on January 1st thinking you're going to run a marathon... you will be sadly mistaken.  

Instead of starting with the 5K we should begin with a small step like putting on our running shoes and walking out the door for a walk and do that everyday, until that first step is a part of who you are.  It's a habit.  Maintaining a workout program for the long haul is about showing up everyday.  At first it's showing up for a 10 min walk, and then it's pushing yourself to the next level.  It's about showing up everyday, until your identity is someone who works out.  If you have an end goal like losing 10 pounds, you will quit when you've lost the weight, but you will not have become the person who works out for the sake of health.  

Show up, start small, create a habit, become the person who is...  whatever it is your desiring to be.  I can do that.  That's not overwhelming.  Clear says our goal should be a 1% improvement everyday.  One percent better than yesterday.  That is something I can get behind.  One percent everyday for a year...  365 days of improvement.  That's something that feels doable and you know what I'm doing it.

On January 13th I was driving my kids to school and the radio person was saying that her inspiration of the day was "Show up today in your workout, because by January 12th most people have quit their resolutions."  Showing up on day 13th was the key to showing up for the rest of the month.  There were days when I was just tired and I didn't want to do it, but I did something because I wanted to become a person who is healthy.  

Today I'm showing up on this blog, because it's something that I love to do and it brings me joy.  I have always been a starter.  I like to start BIG and I want immediate results and I fizzle out quickly, but I'm working on that.  I want to do this just because it makes me happy...  and I hope to share a little inspiration along the way... but it all starts with showing up.  

The Bible also has much to say about starting small and showing up...  Here are a couple of verses...  what a relief it is to know that God rejoices in those small beginnings as well and He is looking for faithfulness in the little things before He rewards us with bigger jobs.  

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..." Zechariah 4:10

"If you are faithful in the little things, you will be faithful in the large ones..."  Luke 16:10  

Start small and improve 1% daily.  Set your mind on becoming the type of person you want to be and implement a system that makes it easy to become that person.  Show up everyday and in a while you will begin to see the results you have been wanting to see for so long.