I'M TIRED...

"Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf."
~Alan Cohen

 Rays of Hope by Zoomion

I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog and the direction of my blog. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve teetered on the edge of ending my blog or at least greatly reducing my number of posts. I must say that I was nudged by two recent blog posts that I read. One was by Dave Hearn (http://bit.ly/p3EOCB) and the other by Tony J. Alicea (http://bit.ly/q5UxYE).

The reason? I’m tired.

I’m tired of stealing time away from my wife at night when I’m writing a blog. I waited 37 years to get married and I’m not willing to let a blog steal time from Aimie.

I’m tired of stealing time away from my relationship with God. Since I began blogging in April, I’ve spent every morning reading and commenting on blog posts. Before blogging, I had a fairly rich devotional time with God each morning. I’m tired of putting God second to a blog.

I’m tired of acting like I know what I’m talking about. I realize that most of the things that I write about I struggle with myself (although I believe they are true). Sometimes I feel so hypocritical to write about intentional living when I feel, at times, that I lack direction for myself.

I’m tired of opening my Google Reader each morning and seeing 38 unread posts. It’s too much.

I’m tired of feeling the pressure to comment on other people’s blogs to drive people to my blog.

I’m tired of reading all the blogs that tell you how to grow your blog and monetize it. Do these sound familiar?

• Give a list of 3-5 things (i.e. 3 ways to become a better listener). When I read other blogs and they give a list of things, even if they make sense, I don’t remember them. 
• Use the right words in your blog title that optimizes your blog for search engines. 
• Give away free content.

I know these things are all true, but I’m tired of worrying about doing what everyone else tells me to do to grow my blog.

So, my plan going forward is to narrow my focus. I’m eliminating most of the blogs that I’ve been reading from my Google Reader. Below are the exceptions. These people have become blogging friends and I will continue to support their blog and hope they will continue to support mine. One of the greatest rewards from writing a blog has been the other bloggers that I have met. These are genuine, honest, Godly men who have a heart for God and others. You should be reading these blogs:

Arny’s Blog – The Analogous Truth - http://arnyslight.wordpress.com/ 
Brandon’s Blog – Big B - http://bigb94.wordpress.com/ 
Randy Cantrell – Bula Network - http://bulanetwork.com/ 
Cathy Family Blog - http://www.cathyfamily.com/ 
David Santistevan - http://www.davidsantistevan.com/ 
Jeff Goins - http://goinswriter.com/
Jon Stolpe – Stretched - http://jonstolpe.wordpress.com/ 
Ryan Haack - http://www.ryanhaack.com/ 
Tony J. Alicea - http://www.tonyjalicea.com/ 
Dave Hearn - Warrior Shepard - http://warriorshepherd.com/blog/ 

Other good blogs:

Don Miller - http://donmilleris.com/ 
Jon Acuff - http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/
Michael Hyatt - http://michaelhyatt.com/ 
 
I thank those of you who read my blog regularly. There are days when I’m surprised by the number of page hits that I have. Other days, of course, I’m disappointed by the lack of readers.

As I’ve previously stated, the main beneficiary of the blog has been myself. I want to record my thoughts for my future self and a blog is a great way to do so.

So, moving forward, I will likely blog a bit less and I will definitely try to write more about what I know. I still want my blog to surround the idea of intentional living, but maybe I’ll write more about my attempts at intentional living.

I want to be genuine and sincere and if my readership and “tribe” grows, then great. If it doesn’t, then I just know to move in a different direction.

In the meantime, I look forward to more interactions with my blogging friends and meeting new people along the journey.

QUESTION: What are you tired of? Please post comments below.