I’ve been having a hard time getting back into writing. My book of poetry is 90% complete – just the finishing touches. Sure, I broke my leg, which disrupted routines. It took a long time just get up and ready in the morning. You would think being stuck at home would be a writer’s paradise. It was not.
I can give a lot of excuses, but let me just say I made choices that began new patterns of how I spend my time. My lack of mobility crept into a lack of motivation. My lack of energy morphed into laziness. My lack of ability formed a lack of focus.
And I confess, I numbed the pain. I’m not just talking about pain-killing drugs I was on after the break or surgeries that left me in a fog. I’m talking about TV and easy things that numbed feelings of inadequately and frustrations of dependency.
Just like the drugs, it wasn’t my real world. My world has people in it I wanted to encourage. My world has obstacles to overcome. My world also had words that needed to be put on paper.
It’s easier to avoid responsibility. It’s easier to live in dependency, letting others care for me. It’s easier to spend time watching reality TV, other people living their lives. But it’s not me. It’s not my life. It’s not who God called me to be.
So, “just do it!” is what came to me as I prayed. Turn off the TV – I really don’t like the show anyway. I can get myself to the computer. I can spend time with God and let his spirit flow. That is who God uniquely made me to be. And the process of publishing is back on track.
I can’t help but think of others. They may not be writers. They may not have a broken leg or cancer. But they may be numbing themselves away from what God has called them to do with things that in and of themselves are not “bad.” Are they asking themselves, “Is it who God made me? Is it what He is calling me to do? Is it how he has asked me to reflect his character?”
Just do it!
