I am rapidly approaching the time when I will stop writing this blog on a daily basis. I’m not quite sure when it’s going to be but my promise to those of you who read this regularly is to let you know it’s coming rather than simply and abruptly ending. Sooner or later all things must come to an end, and even as I find myself contemplating the end of Lessons in Gratitude as a daily blog I find myself wondering what I will do with myself when I’m no longer writing it each day. In many ways the discipline of writing every day has been helpful; especially during the period when I was unemployed then underemployed. In those days one of the challenges was to search through the difficulties that were plaguing my life in 2011 and find the kernels of gratitude, the insights and wisdom that I found during that time in my life. I reasoned that, no matter what was happening in my life, no matter how difficult and painful the days, I could always find something to be grateful for. And I have.
Seeking and finding things to be grateful for each day is a lot easier than trying to write about it. I am quite amazed and gratified that I’ve been able to keep doing it for so long. Simply put, I am exhausted and sometimes the only thing that keeps me writing night after night is the encouragement I get here and there from readers asking me to stick with it. I am grateful for those days when I am inspired to write, have a theme in mind and can flow right into it. More nights than not these days I labor to find the theme, the angle from which I am going to write. An organized person would probably write three or four blogs in one sitting and post them one after another. I was thinking about this approach as I cooked myself dinners to easily get through the week and put some in the freezer as well. But as much as I struggle to find one theme each night, I’m not sure I could come up with three or four no matter how energized I am feeling. My greatest concern is that in seeking to please others, I am no longer writing for myself and the quality of the writing and the integrity of the message will be lost. That wouldn’t be good for any of us. So we shall see.
Tonight I am putting out a call for guest bloggers for L.I.G. My daughter has already guest blogged for me a number of times, and my sister Ruth tried her hand at a it a few weeks ago. In the days and weeks ahead I am hoping to attract a few people to write on something they are grateful for. Surely in the two years since I began writing this blog I’ve inspired someone else who would be willing to share a few thoughts about what they are grateful for. If you’re interested in writing a piece, you can write to me at mtchamblee@walkinyourpower.com or private message me on Facebook.
I am grateful for the perseverance and persistence that I’ve had over this time that has allowed me to write most fervently about what I am grateful for. Through good and bad times, happy and difficult ones I have written about gratitude and the lessons I’ve learned from opening my heart and working my way through the challenges. Now I am working on my exit strategy for completing this phase with as much grace and gratitude with which I entered it. I’m going to keep writing for the foreseeable future (heck even the next five minutes aren’t foreseeable!) Thanks to each of you for your faithful readership. If any of you is interested in writing, let me know. I’ll be happy to work you into the rotation. Until then, I will in gratitude, keep writing lessons.
