• Going for Broke

    by  •  • LifeStuff • 0 Comments

    Today was a pretty good day, despite the fact my back has really bothered me all weekend.

    My back is weak, and that’s all there is too it, and the fact I don’t try to strengthen it and spend most every day sitting doesn’t help it much. But when you can’t move from lying or reclining to sitting, or from sitting to standing very easily, it’s pretty clear some attention is owed to that region.

    That said, I did manage to get up and sit down with some exertion today- to get to church, to do some chores at home, and to enjoy some game playing this evening.

    I enjoyed the message at church today, which was basically about Mary and her incredulous situation, bearing the Son of God.

    Before church, though, I took some time to watch a few YouTube videos on writing, most of which focused on Stephen King, and contained his thoughts about writing. There were excerpts in a few videos on him that overlapped, but a segment in one of the videos really stood out to me.

    In it, he had been asked something about his writing process, and about how he got his stuff out into the world when he was unknown.

    King basically responded with a good argument for taking risks. “Everything is on loan. You can’t take any of it with you.”

    If you really want to succeed in your profession, he basically recommended that you go for broke. Having a bunch of stuff cluttering your life gained from a lifestyle or occupation you do not like is worth less than finding a way to do what you love. And to get anywhere in life, like while driving a car, you have to know where you want to get to, have a vague idea about how to get there, and then you have to get behind the wheel and drive the distance.

    You have to try. And try again. And try hard.

    I also spent a little time journaling this morning, thinking about the fact that in 8 months I would be 50. I was writing and reflecting about what I’ve accomplished and how I’ve lived to this point, and I had an interesting word break into my thoughts. It was significant enough that I wrote it down so that I would remember it in the coming days ahead, because it talks to my mentality which sputters in a posture of laziness a lot.

    I tell myself I am lazy quite a bit.

    The thought was: “You are probably ‘lazy’ because you are afraid.’

    I tend to view myself as lazy quite often, without energy to try and get basic things done at times. I’ve used this stance as a justification for not getting things done (or not trying things) in life a bit too often. I face obstacles to completing activities, and I’ll capitulate, and then not even try to reach that goal. Or the next.

    I want to call it laziness, but quite often, it’s probably something else entirely. Intimidation by the next hurdle, by the next step in the fuzzy process, by the next curve in the unclear path.

    Fear.

    “You are probably ‘lazy’ in your own eyes because you are afraid.”

    The message being, if you just face your fears, you will probably get more done, and feel more richness in your life.

    “You can’t take anything here with you”, King accented. You might as well do your best to leave it all here, going for broke.

    About

    A web programmer by day, I somehow still spend a lot of time thinking about relationships, God, and the significance of grace and love in daily events. I am old school in the sense that I believe in the reality of sin, and in the need of each human heart for deliverance to the Divine. I am one of those who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that you can find most answers to life's pressing issues in Him and His Word, the Bible. I ain't perfect, and a lot of the time I ain't good, but by God's grace and kindness, I am forgiven and free.

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