I had no idea what I was going to write about this morning. But that’s nothing new.
I opened the lid of my laptop, clicked on Add New Post, and stared at the blinking cursor of death.
I sat in silence for a few minutes and then said a little prayer for guidance before getting started.
Some call it writer’s block. I call it Saturday.
You see, a lot of people think that writers are just bursting with things to write about. That we can’t wait to sit down and share the amazing thoughts and insight stuck inside our head with the world.
But it’s not true.
We struggle. We worry. We do our morning ritual. We write what we feel called to write about that day, and then we click on Save or Publish and we walk away, hoping to have made a difference.
But the most important thing we do is we show up. Every single day. And we write.
We don’t wait until we figure out what to write about. We just write. Author William Faulkner once said, “I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”
The one piece of advice I’d give someone wanting to become a writer would be this: Just show up.
It’s advice that applies to a lot more than writing. It can help with any decision or problem we face.
Funny how advice works, though…
We like to give it out freely, but rarely do we follow our own advice, even when we need it.
This was a hectic week. I needed to buy a retirement gift and struggled for days trying to figure out what to get. But it wasn’t until I took a step in faith and left the house that I found the perfect gift.
I also had to give a speech for the retiree in front of 75 people and agonized over the whole thing until I sat down to write it out and then practiced delivering it. It ended up working out just fine.
And then this morning. The blinking cursor of death that thought it would win showed up. But I sat down in faith and wrote some words about having faith that I didn’t even know I was going to write.
That’s how faith works. You show up. You do your best. You let God take care of the rest.
What I keep reminding myself when I don’t know what to do is to just take one step in faith – the first step – and things will work out. It’s like driving home late at night when it’s dark out. You can’t see the whole way home, all you can see is a small part of the road being lit by your headlights.
But that’s all we need to see. If you just follow the path that’s lit, you’ll find your way home.
If you’re struggling with a decision or if you have something weighing on your mind – just show up. It turns out, writing is a lot like life. Show up and take a step in faith. The path will become clearer.