I took the hard, scary leap!

After writing a column in my small town local newspaper for six years, I received notice that my column would no longer be printed. This was a decision by leadership to work toward keeping a small town, local newspaper financially viable. It’s not personal, I was told. And, I understand that the decision was made with the intent to do what was deemed best for the newspaper. 

And, it was personal to me. I was shocked and so sad. The rug was pulled out from under me, and I found myself distraught with no clear next right step.

Many choices remained available to me. Knocked off my feet, I could remain flat on my ass with a feeling of defeat. Being caught off guard, I could be angry at the world for being unfair. Feeling so sad, I could wallow in self-pity and live in victim-mode. Cherishing the past, I could print my columns in an inspirational book of reflections. Or, I could get up, brush off the dirt, and do the scary, hard thing…start a blog. 

My son said to me, “If it isn’t scary, then you aren’t living.” He said this to ME, the one who has skydived, jumped into a blue hole at the base of a waterfall, and leaped from the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Somehow starting a blog felt scarier than all of those combined. What if I take the leap and it fails? What if I don’t know how to do all of the things that it takes to get it started?

My son then offered a second piece of wisdom, “Don’t worry about challenge #152. Just tackle the challenge #1.” Okay, who is this kid and why does he have to sound so wise right now? 

If you have been a reader of my column over the past six years, I am forever grateful you have chosen to find me here…on my blog. If you have stumbled across this blog or my reflections for the first time, I am forever grateful and offer my sincere welcome. I hope you’ll keep coming back. I’ll be here…writing, reflecting, and sharing in an honest, relatable way that I hope will connect with you.