Permission

Mate and I recently discovered a way to take a half an hour for ourselves each evening.  After cleaning up from dinner, I sneak into the basement to exercise.  When I am finished, Mate and I switch places.  Sure, we are well aware of the benefits of regular exercise, but I don't think the exercise part is really what we like so much about our new routine.  After 2+ years of parenting, we've finally found a way to take some "me time" without feeling guilty.  The elliptical is my ticket to 30 minutes of uninterrupted time with a good book.  I used to watch tv while exercising, but reading is a much better choice (although it did take a few stumbles before I coordinated turning pages and moving at the same time).  Instead of staring at whatever nonsense is on tv, I am being inspired by carefully written words.  I knew Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton would have plenty of inspiring passages, but this one I could really relate to:

 

"If, anywhere in your soul, you feel the desire to write, please write.  Write as a gift to yourself and others.  Everyone has a story to tell.  Writing is not about creating tidy paragraphs that sound lovely or choosing the "right" words.  It's just about noticing who you are and noticing life and sharing what you notice.  When you write your truth, it is a love offering to the world because it helps us feel braver and less alone.  And if you're a really, really bad writer, then it might be most important for you to write because your writing might free other really, really bad writers to have a go at it anyway" (pg 25).

I immediately felt better about my blogging journey after reading these words.  Some days I know exactly what I want to write and the words come easily.  Other days, I struggle to create complete thoughts because I get caught up in grammatical errors.  When I read this passage, it was like permission to write without worrying so much that a word isn't sophisticated enough or a punctuation mark is out of place.  From now on, I won't be so bummed when I find a mistake after publishing a post.  Thank you, Glennon Doyle Melton.

Go on . . . read, exercise, write, find your inspiration.