I haven't posted in a while. Like a long, long while.
I've been elsewhere.
Sometimes that's okay. Sometimes, your hobbies change due to changes in your life - a new job that takes up more time, a few big moves on the horizon, or generally anything that shakes up a routine.
Or maybe your hobby just fell away, and you don't even remember when it happened...
It's okay if your hobbies change, but what if you didn't want them to?
I haven't posted in a while. And that makes me a little sad. So why didn't I do anything about it? I suppose the same question goes for people who also stopped doing a hobby they really enjoyed, or something they knew was good for them.
So why the hell don't we just do something?
I've come to realize an answer to this. Are you ready? Buckled? Hold on to your seat belt!
We are scared.
Biggest revelation you've had since you found out the world was round, right?? Not really.
We all know we don't get back into our favorite hobbies because we're scared. This isn't news. But what is news is why we're scared:
It's the fear of getting back on the horse that keeps getting bigger and stronger and maybe even a little gnarlier.
Think of this horse as the hobby you enjoy but begin to neglect. At first, the horse is a tiny pony. Easy peasy, you think. Riding a pony? Child's play. So maybe you get on, maybe you don't. Only hesitating for a second. Well, the next time you look at that cutie pie little horsey, maybe a few months later, she's grown a bit. Probably normal horse-size, but nothing you haven't seen before. But now there's an extra hesitation about whether you want to hop on or not. Maybe so long a hesitation that you lean a little farther to the "not" side. Flash forward to a year after you've first encountered the tiny pony. What do you see now? Something gnarlier. This horse is so big and rough, she looks like the last thing you'd ever want to ride. So what's the point? But what if I were to tell you this gnarly horse only existed in your mind? What if I told you you could choose to hop on the tiny pony instead? Would you do it?
Would you?
Let's use my lack of blog-writing as an example: I haven't finished a post in six months. SIX. MONTHS. In month one, I thought, no big deal, I can just write one when I please. So I would write a few thoughts and then stop when I didn't feel like writing anymore. Sooner or later, month one turned into month three. Three months after a post seemed so long that I was worried getting back into it wouldn't make much sense, but I probably will, I thought. Soon. Not now, but soon. Now it's been six months. This morning I was sitting on the couch thinking of what I should do with my time. I had all of these thoughts in my head, things I wanted to share but never got to articulating or organizing into coherent sentences. It was overwhelming, the buildup of thoughts. Then I had a flash moment where I thought, FUCK IT. Just do something. Write something. Finish it. It doesn't have to be perfect.
So here I am. It's not a perfect blog post or a perfect message. You might sympathize with it, or maybe you don't get it at all because you're a master at doing everything. Guessing not though ;)
But even though it isn't perfect, it's something concrete. Something solid. Something. SOME THING.
That's just the thing. It doesn't have to be the best thing you've ever done.
If you want to write, it doesn't have to be the best piece of work you've written. Just get something down you can stomach sharing. That's something.
If you want to exercise, it doesn't have to be the hour-long circuit you used to do. Maybe start with ten minutes of jogging. Or ten minutes of body weight exercises like squats and push ups. That's something.
If you want to cook or bake, it doesn't have to be an intricate recipe. Try making something new. Just new. That's something.
It doesn't matter what you do, as long as it is something.
Because let me share a little secret with you - something is better than nothing. And I promise you, something is most definitely possible.
So what's your horse? What have you been meaning to get back into but haven't because of the gnarly, nasty horse you created?
Let's do something about that.