Yesterday, I returned home from a 5-day work trip that completely threw me off my normal routine. I’m feeling mentally and physically drained, trying to fight off the ever-growing symptoms of an impending sinus infection, which, as usual, is accompanied by a persistent massive headache… the kind that hurts to blink my eyes or move my neck. 

So, when I realized it was Tuesday and time to post a blog article, my first thought was “fuck it.” I immediately started coming up with a litany of excuses for skipping out on writing today:

• I feel like shit, and I have no energy… I really should be resting.
• I’m uninspired.
• I have so many chores to catch up on… How did my house get so fucking dusty in just a few days?
• I’m tired, and my head hurts.
• I’m overwhelmed thinking about the other projects I have going on.
• Bonnie (my derpy little runt goat) got her damn head stuck in the fence again, and now it’s late, and I don’t have time to write.
• Nobody really cares whether I post an article or not anyway, right?
• OMG, I have 3 new episodes of 90 Day Fiancé shows to catch up on that I missed while I was gone (“90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?,” “90 Day Fiancé UK,” and “90 Day: The Single Life.” Yes, I do watch them ALL…).

These are all excuses I could easily rationalize to myself as being both reasonable and valid, but, the bottom line is they would still be excuses, and I’m not about living that life anymore. Plus, I recently wrote a couple blog articles about personal excellence and discipline, so I would be a total hypocrite to bitch out on writing today, regardless of whether I feel like doing it or not.

Why am I so passionate about keeping up with this blog?  Mostly because I’ve committed to living my life with intention, and part of being intentional is following through on my obligations and the standards I create for myself, even when I don’t feel like it. When I decided to start writing publicly, I made a commitment to post weekly articles, with the goal of encouraging and inspiring others to take a stand for their beliefs and hopefully learn from some habits and practices that I’ve been using to help me create my best fucking life. Even though this blog is just a fun side venture, and I only have a handful of readers, I take my commitment to writing weekly posts seriously. 

Is my writing really doing anything to inspire others or impact anyone’s life for the better? I know that most of my friends and family who read my articles are doing it just to be supportive of me (which I totally appreciate!), but is anyone really benefiting from any of this? In truth, people hardly even read these days, so what does it matter if I don’t write anything this week, or even at all?

As a society, we have become so conditioned to receiving information in the fastest way possible through the internet and social media apps, that most people have developed minimal attention spans for “reading” anything beyond 10-second blurbs on social posts before scrolling to the next one. I am not immune to the lure of social media, and a year ago, I would have been doing just that right now, sitting on my couch scrolling Instagram and eating a pint of ice cream instead of sitting at my computer typing this blog.

I used to devour books, magazines, and internet articles, often reading 2-3 novels in a week. I love books and reading the way some women love Louboutin heels. Yet, lately, I have so much other shit going on in my life that reading often falls by the wayside. So, I make it a point to be intentional in scheduling 15-20 minutes of reading into my day, or else I likely wouldn’t be reading much at all.

And that’s part of what this blog is all about – being intentional and following through on the shit I say I’m going to do. So, instead of skipping this week’s article, I’m following through on my commitment to post a weekly blog. This may not be a literary masterpiece today, but this is me being authentic and showing up for myself and my readers. If you’re reading this, and you’ve been feeling lazy, making excuses, or procrastinating about following through with something you’ve committed to in your own life, hopefully this article inspires you to get your shit together.

So, short and sweet, that’s my message for this week. Stick to your commitments. Be intentional. Fuck your excuses, however valid they may be. Show up for yourself and others, even when you don’t fucking feel like it. 

And now that I’ve successfully posted my weekly article, I’m gonna go curl up on the couch with an Açai bowl and watch one of my 90 Day Fiancé shows…

Unapologetically Outspoken,

Tara 

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