Consistency Challenge – Day Two or Knowing Why I Write

Growing up, I sang with a pretend microphone along with the radio. I dreamed of being on stage and singing to a crowd. The first time I tried out for a play, the director told me that my “knees were too pretty to be an orphan” (you can’t make up stuff like that). It was almost two decades before I stepped on stage again. I never sang.

I dreamed of singing, but I never had a passion for it. I wanted the fame and most importantly I wanted the fortune. I did not want the effort and commitment it would take to reach that level.

My brother was always more dedicated than me when it came to reaching for his dreams. He was a great athlete and wanted to reach the top level of athletic success. For him, that meant a college scholarship in basketball. He was not a tall guy by any stretch of the imagination, but he made up for his stature in determination and dedication. Every night he went out in the back yard to shoot – even if he had spent the day playing pickup games or practicing.

He was committed and he received his scholarship.

Commitment often comes hand and hand with passion. You might be able to force commitment for a moment. As soon as trials come along or rejection rears its head, that commitment crumbles without a foundation of something more than “I will do it.”

That is why I write. I have a passion for words. Most importantly, I have a passion for sharing my heart, my journey, my revelations in the hope that the words will connect with another and provide a seed of hope for that life.

I want to share hope.

My Five Tips for Growing Hope in Writing

1. Tell it like it is. As long as I am honest with my words then that peels back the mask to allow for a genuine relationship to begin. I have to be willing to be honest.

2. Expect to be disliked. I will never please everyone and that is okay. It is not my job to please anyone. I am to be my uniqueness. Those that respond to my uniqueness will respond to it. Those that reject it can find a different “orphan” for their production.

3. Look for others with the same passion – or a related passion. I am not an island and if I try to be I will be standing off in the corner of the internet talking to myself. I have to step out and make connections. Always remember #1 and #2 during the process. You will not connected well with everyone – but as I was reminded multiple times recently – PLAY NICE!

4. Stretch out of your comfort zone. Do more than you have been doing. It takes more to reach that destination. It takes more to just move. Settling will never make the extraordinary possible. Do more to be more.

5. No pain – no gain is WRONG. You want to push for discomfort, going outside your comfort zone. It if leaves you curled up in the floor in a fetal position then it may have been a little too much – or too much too soon.

Growing hope means that I am looking to reach out and touch lives of those that I encounter. I will never do that if I am hold back. I have to be more. I have to do more. I have to reveal more of who I am. Those needs drive my words. I write to grow hope in me and in you.

Why do you write? Why do you do what you do? What drives you to become all that you were designed to be. Find your passion and then pursue that with boldness.