Have you ever wondered why everyone is not out here in cyberspace writing a blog? Yes, I know there are lots of fish in the cyber sea and I am just one of many hundreds, thousands, millions actually. However, many thousands and perhaps even millions could also have a blog, maybe even a profitable one; so, why don’t they? Writing can be intimidating! On the face of it, it does seem silly that putting together a string of letters to form words and then sentences would actually be scary but, for many people it is. In fact, I myself have fallen prey to this fear of writing for others to read although I actually like to “write” as long as no one else reads it. Words have power, especially written words. Have you heard the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword”? Well, in many cases it is true. One of my mother’s favorite quotes is, “Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it!” I’ve found after nearly 15 years of marriage that “say it, forget it.” is often true, as far as the “write it, regret it” part, well the bible says in Proverbs 10:19a “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin:” so, I’m sure there will be times I mess up, I’m still human and no one is perfect, only Jesus ever accomplished that. When I fall short, I hope that readers will remember my frame, that I also am just a human that makes mistakes and have a forgiving heart.
In my early twenties I attended a few political gatherings (remember the forgiving heart!), mostly just to meet new people in the area I had recently moved to. I remember someone saying there, though I don’t remember who, that one handwritten letter to a congressman is worth about 13,000 emails to the congressman. The logic behind this was that emails can be auto generated very easily but a person must purposely set aside meaningful time to actually find paper, ink, envelopes, stamps and TIME to write a handwritten letter. Time is valuable to highly successful people so, when they know a person has spent enough time to organize thoughts in a letter with the old fashioned pen and paper, those words are very highly valued to the addressee, even if the words are harmful; they provided a valuable insight about something or someone to the addressee. Now, I certainly can’t say that this has caused me to write a lot of letters to my congressman or even the city council, but it has shown me that words are valuable and they can and do have an effect of us whether we realize it or not.
Words can be intimidating because they evoke fear. Once you’ve written it, an expression of what was already in your heart has manifested. Once you’ve published it on the world wide web, it’s there forever to be a reflection of your life whether that be good or bad. Not only that, often words will be twisted and used against you in way you never intended them to be taken. Sometimes we have very passionate thoughts that are not easily transcribed in our current vocabulary, wherever we are on our learning journey, and we choose a word that misses the mark of the thought or emotion we truly meant to express. I know in my case, these fears have kept me from publishing a single word on davitodd.com until just recently. As I pondered over my blog, I realized that this fear of people I’ve never even met was choking out a desire to share the good things I have learned in my short life so far. After reading 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” I knew that allowing this fear to rule over me was not smart and not of God.
Be brave just like Davy Crockett! My father used to encourage me to be brave with this little taunt when I was a girl. Once I identified that “fear” was the root cause of my lack of action and that “not enough time” was really my justification for being afraid, I sat down to make an action plan. I began to pray and ask God for guidance about writing, blogging, new time management goals, and anything else that came to mind. On one of our family outings to the local library, I found out that a new writers group had formed so I signed up for it and have been to two meetings so far. Although I still mostly observe, I look forward to pushing myself into new journeys and expanding my horizons. I’m older now and although I can hear my daddy say, “Come on Davi Jo, be brave, just like Davy Crockett!”, I’m a Christian now so my battle cry shall be, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him[Jesus] that loved us.” Romans 8:37
If you’re interested in following along the life of a little ole’ housewife working on overcoming fear, learning new things, and making a cozy little home, stick around! I look forward to meeting you and hope to encourage you along the way of life’s journey. Thanks so much for stopping by and spending time with me today, I truly appreciate it. Leave some feedback in the comments and help me grow. Would you like shorter more frequent posts or longer more detailed posts? Are there any topics you’d like me to cover? Are there fears holding you back and keeping you from accomplishing a desire you have? I’d love to see your thoughts!
Until next time,
Davi
