Don't Break The Chain

I've been a bit of a chain breaker the past few days. I missed my blog post yesterday, and I didn't get the you tube videos up on the channel that I wanted the past few days. I think I've been getting a little depressed. This winter is starting to get the best of me.



It has been a long winter. There's been a lot of snow. But I'm forgetting that last year we had 6 months worth of days with the weather below freezing. 6 months of winter in the Berkshires. It was ridiculous. of all years winter's, last year's was by far the longest.



But I'm getting off topic. You shouldn't break the chain. It's bad. It makes you lose momentum. It makes you lose track of what your end goal is. It makes you lose focus. and It makes you get depressed.



When I looked at what I had to do today to get back on track, it seemed like a lot. Two blog posts. Fixing and posting Videos. Working on new parts for Stef's website. on and on and on. I need to make a list, I need to make sure I don't miss anything I need to go over everything after its done, make sure its right, and then keep going. Oh yeah, and I need to follow up on a bunch of job postings. And raise my child. And clean the house. No big deal.



It gets overwhelming fast. I'm worried. I'm scared. I'm afraid I won't catch up on everything I need to do. Instead, I'm just starting. I know its noon, the day is half-gone, and I might not get to it all, but at least I've done SOMETHING. at least I've started. That's what really matters. I'll keep working on these things until they're done, because that's all I can do.



When it comes to self motivation, the only real answer is to start. There is no magical motivation gene. There is no magical vat of getupandgo that will solve all of your problems. You just need to go. And Sometimes is hard, really hard. If you don't do it, though, you will fail. I guarantee it. You need to keep working at things constantly or else you will never make it. If you keep going, you can't fail. It might just take a little longer than everyone else.



Now, I had a good excuse for my tardiness in work this weekend. My good friend Dan came to visit, and he's just landed a great job in his industry. Celebration was due, and it was a great time. He's an excellent friend, and I'm glad to have seen him. I'll always make time for friends, because there is nothing more valuable than good friends. I believe that completely. So what If I miss a few things that can be made up quickly?



I do have to admit it made me eel guilty, though. I wanted to stay on track no matter what, but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes things fall by the wayside, get sidetracked, and you miss what you thought were the most important things you could be doing. It happens. But in missing these things, I played with my daughter a little more, I got to see my friend and my daughter get to know each other, I got to enjoy a great breakfast my friend cooked. We went out to dinner, something we haven’t don’t in at least 5 months. we enjoyed great movies together, and rested, and recharged, and went back to our lives feeling better and stronger than we did before. It was important. It might have even been necessary. More for Stef and Dan than for me. I'm glad I could help.



It's hard when you break the chain. You feel bad, you wish you could take it back. And you can't. So I'm glad I felt so bad about it. I'm glad i took it seriously, because that's important. However, you gotta get over it, and just get back on the house and create a new chain. Keep that chain going even longer. Never break it, or maybe only once when its really important. That makes the most sense to me.



When you do something like this every day, you can get hard on yourself. Some posts are incredible. Some you tube videos are better than others. some days and weeks feel more productive. Sometimes you get sidetracked, lose motivation, lose drive, and it gets hard to pick your ass back up. Its happened to me many times in my life. Especially now, about a month ago. And I'm reminded of that. the fear of that scares me and keeps me moving. Wanting to be better for my family keeps me moving. Wanting to be better for myself keeps me moving. It's all so important, because my family, and my friends, and me are all that I have. Not so long ago, I would have put them in different order, but now I know that in the grand scheme of things, you're nothing without others. So invest in them. but make sure you invest in yourself along the way.



There are times in life when being selfish is important, and you gotta make sure that the chain isn't broken. As you grow you realize that you need to make sure that you're taking care of your family and friends too. Sometimes before yourself. It's an interesting transition as you grow: you've built up enough "Self" that you can give more, and help more, and it feels great. It's so important to be able to do that too, because it helps you grow as well. Sometimes more than if you had just invested in yourself. This is one of the greatest revelations I've ever made. I was so sure that you needed to look out for yourself first for so long. Now I know that your family and friends need to be taken care of first. almost always. Because if you don't have them, what do you have at all?



I’ve been alone before, I've been friendless, and I've been fine with it. I've lived on my own, and worked on my own, and its great, the quietness, the aloneness. I enjoy it, actually. But eventually you realize that you need those friends and family to share your achievements with. You need your family to support you when things get hard. You need friends to relax with and to share things with. Its the most important thing you can cultivate is a friend and family network. Because you can have the whole world, but if you can't share it with anyone, you're poorer than a pauper.  not in some measurement scale, but in how you'll feel. You'll feel so empty, and so bare. And when your friends come to share it with you, you'll understand then that your achievement are magnified by the number of people you share them with, not divided. It's one of life's greatest secrets.