I spend way too much time on Facebook sometimes. I get stuck there because that’s where I post this blog each night. The process of writing the blog takes me about an hour, but the posting easily takes another hour because I have to look through all the various updates and videos, articles, pictures and other goofy things people have posted there. Thank goodness I am only on in the evenings when I go to post the blog. I am grateful most nights for the comic relief they provide. The other evening I watched at least half dozen three to four-minute videos–some poignant, some hilarious, all totally entertaining.
I feel like this blog has been a marathon for me and I am in about mile 23 of the 26.2 miles. My literary muscles are burning, my eyes are weary, and my fingers cramped over the keyboard (not literally, of course, but this is a metaphor, so work with me here), and I am praying for the last burst of energy that will provide the “kick” I’ll need in the final 385 yard stretch. This has been a long and interesting journey for me, this writing daily for what–god willing–will be 902 days when I finish on January 1, 2014. That’s 658 straight days or 1.8 years without a break. Well, if you count the six to eight or so times when I’ve had a guess blogger, I guess I haven’t written this blog for 658 days without missing. But seriously, in the scheme of things, who’s counting?
I have no idea who reads this blog–it’s now only a handful, but who comprises the handful changes every day. I know of about a half dozen people who’ve read this blog every day since I started writing it, and others who have perhaps just discovered it recently. Because I post it only on Facebook it is visible to “friends of friends,” so pretty much anyone who is curious could read it. One of my readers for example is a guy I “met” only through an online game I used to play on Facebook. I haven’t played in nearly two years, but he started reading this blog some time ago and periodically has commented on how it has helped him. A childhood friend began reading to her mother who was battling a series illness that ultimately claimed her life. My friend told me about the positive impact it had on the two of them during that period of time they were reading it. I receive all kinds of feedback from friends and regular readers who indicate the positive impact these daily musings have had on their way of thinking about things. This is very gratifying. I’ve often said that I started writing this blog for me: I needed to focus daily on the good things that were present in my life because at the time I began writing so many difficult things had happened. I may have started writing it for me, but I have kept writing it for you, whoever you are.
I’ve never had more than a few hundred readers at the height of my writing, and these days I have a very small number. At times I think I should have done more to promote this work, perhaps somehow making a name for myself in the blogosphere. But really, that’s not why I started writing, and although I may yet take all of the thousands of words, hundreds of pages and create a book or some kind of product, mostly I’ve written to keep myself encouraged and hopefully encourage other people here and there to stop what they’re doing long enough to focus on gratitude, on appreciation for the many blessings that abound in most of our lives. It might sound corny, but if I’ve inspired people, brought a smile to someone, given them pause to ponder something they hadn’t thought about before, then I see that as a very good thing. The other day I wrote about being the next Nelson Mandela, about how each of us has the potential to change the world like he did. I might not be famous, well known, revered around the world, but if in my small circle I can make a difference with and for the people around me, can I not say that is a life well-lived? I think so.
I am grateful for every person who has taken the three minutes or so it probably takes to read my blog. I started it for me and I continue it for us. My hope is that when I write my last daily blog in two weeks I will have conceived of some new way to get more gratitude, generosity, compassion, lovingkindness, and other vital attributes out into the world. Whatever form that might take I will be forever grateful for the time, energy, and love I’ve invested in this one. For you, with love and, of course, deep gratitude.
