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I include this for no other reason than it amuses the hell out of me. |
I'm continually and repeatedly surprised by the power of small things.
Small things can lead to big changes.
The small act of writing these few words each day have had a ripple effect on not only my writing, but my life. By blowing the dust off my brain and forcing myself to commit to a few words each day, it put me back in the writing frame of mind. Since I'd already dealt with a blank page here, it wasn't quite so daunting to open up the manuscript file and make a few pages of edits. And what I found there wasn't as scary as I thought it was. In fact, it was pretty good.
So here I am again. Doing one small thing, which may lead to another small thing, and who knows how many other small things after that?
My silly dietary changes are like that too. And maybe committing to those changes began with committing to writing these baby blogs each day? A small snack-size bag of Cheez-Its is not that big of a thing to give up. Or a small (haha — who are we kidding?) glass of wine each night is not that big of a thing to give up. The Cheez-Its are worth about 210 calories and the glass of cab, 130 calories (let's allow for 150, just to be generous). So that's 340 extra calories a day, or 2,380 a week. Or 9,520 a month. Or 114,240 a year. Those small changes can lead to big changes and significant weight loss over time.
I wrote my memoir the same way. Some days I only wrote a hundred words. Some days I wrote 500 words. Say I averaged out to 250 words a day, that's 1,750 a week, 7,000 a month or 84,000 a year. That's a whole book. Now I wasn't that consistent mind you, so it took me about 3 or 4 years to write it, but I did. It's finished and now I'm just editing it. And that's because I thought small.
Small daily habits lead to tremendous changes in your life. You can lose weight or write a book. You can move from chaos to organization. You can save enough money to buy a house or a retirement. You can learn how to play an instrument or knit a blanket. Whatever you want. It's all possible.
But tackling big things is overwhelming.
Doing something small each day, not so much.
Like writing this sentence.
What small thing can you do?
I've been thinking I want to write again. I miss it. and here you've gone and already done it again!
ReplyDeleteSo dew it.
DeleteHaha. Get it!?!
I'm always amazed how long I will write each day once I get going. It's the get going that's difficult, of course.
ReplyDeleteBingo!
DeleteI'm glad to see you posting again!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm amazed people are stopping by to say "Hi!"
DeleteSo, "Hi!"
My wife. She's 4'11".
ReplyDelete.
.
.
That's a terrible joke & apologize profusely.
Great advice, by the way.
HA!
DeleteHi Mandy,
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome. You inspire us and your outlook on life
is like sunshine. Your words and actions make us realize:
we should stop watching and start doing. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Richard