1,000
"Just write daily. It will change your life."
These words from my dear friend Gary Hoag sat with me for weeks. I could feel the weight of his statement, yet at the same time, I couldn't wrap my head around it. "Just write daily. It will change your life."
It took me a few months to get over myself, but eventually, I decided to trust Gary. Thus, the Daily Meaning was born. I only had two rules for this new endeavor:
1) 500 words or less
2) Publish daily, no exceptions.
By no exceptions, I mean no exceptions. I needed to create an environment where there are no outs. No justifications. No excuses. I committed to writing, editing, and publishing every single day of my life, regardless of circumstance. Even on my worst days. Even on my best days. Even on my sick days. Even on my where-am-I days. Even on my wilderness days. Even on my I-want-to-crawl-in-a-hole-and-die days. Even on my Sarah-and-I-are-fighting days. Even on my too-busy days. Even on my don't-know-what-to-write-about days. No exceptions. I write because I write.....period.
Today is day 1,000. 1,000 days in a row of writing and sharing my ideas with the world. Gary, I gotta tell you, you were right. It changed my life. Sincerely. It enabled me to serve thousands of people all over the world, meet new friends, engage daily with curious readers, and through the art of writing, learn how to think better.
I've written in ditches, tents, Mongolian gers, airports, cars, hospitals, funeral homes, amusement parks, planes, resorts, ships, gyms, schools, factories, arenas, and more than a dozen countries. When writing is woven into our lives, the world becomes our canvas, our creativity becomes our brush, and our experiences become our paint. It's all so beautiful. Not just the tangibly beautiful things, but everything.....including the pain.
Where do we go from here? To me, the answer is simple: "Just write daily." My commitment to you, and myself, is to continue writing daily, endeavoring to add value to people's lives, and perhaps provide a few laughs along the way (even if at my expense). If my theory is correct and everything we do builds into the next, the next 1,000 days should be even better than the first. I guess we'll find out.
My sincere thanks to everyone who signed up to take this journey with me. I hope the few minutes we share together each morning are as valuable for you as they are for me. Please never hesitate to hit "reply" and share what's on your mind. It's sincerely the highlight of my day. I'm eternally grateful for each of you.
God bless, and cheers to the next 1,000 days.
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