confession: 3rd time's not a charm

I'm sitting here laughing as I type this post out.  It's October 29.  I woke up out of a dead sleep at 3AM, and realized that I hadn't posted to my blog yesterday.  I had taken a lovely photo of some variegated fall leaves on my way into a meeting yesterday morning and thought it would make a perfect Friday post.

Only this is Saturday.  Four hours now into Saturday.  And I failed at my goal for the month of October.  To blog every day.  Not just on one website's blogging challenge, but on two sites.  How crazy is that?

EPIC FAIL.  I love those words.  They are so dramatic, to fail in a way that is similar to the way the Titanic failed to live up to its claim to be unsinkable.  Is it worse than plain failing?  No.  Because failing is failing when you get down to it. But it's the bling version of fail, and if I am gonna fail, then let me go down in bling.

Am I upset I failed?  No.  Because I learned some things about me.  If you learn from an endeavor, even if you fail at that endeavor, then in my eyes you have gained.  Not only gained, but hopefully grown.  When I awakened and realized I'd missed a post last night, I did what I often do when I need to think about something.  I washed my dishes.  (Yes, I do leave dishes in the sink overnight, because I am usually zonked when I get in from work and want to use the bit of energy I have left to spend with Stevie Wonder.)  As I washed I thought about what I had learned with this failure.  (I still can't believe it though....I failed...I failed...)

So here are the lessons I have learned this month (idioms from a blogging idiot):
1 Never bite off more than you can chew.  When you think you have as much on your plate as you can handle and accomplish, then don't add something else.
2 Don't cry over spilt milk.  Once it's out of the carton, there ain't no puttin' it back.  So just mop up the mess and move on to the next life challenge.
3 Every dog has its day.  Even though this wasn't my day, or month, I still believe that day will come.
4 Life is a juggling act.  If you are a working woman, wife, mother, etc., then I don't have to explain this one. I may have dropped the ball, but I can always pick it back up and carry on.  Eventually the juggling will become easier, especially if I don't bite off more than I can chew.
5 If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again.  I tend to think of failing as just a rock on the path to success.  This time I fell over the rock, but next time I will step over it.  I rarely fall across the same rock twice.

As I washed my dishes ..swish, swipe.. I realized that I needed to structure time into my schedule to write.  Even though I don't have any ambition to be published (well there is that children's book I want to write for the grandkids...), I still need to be structured with my writing.  ..swish, swipe..  I seem to write best in the mornings when I first get up.  ..swish, swipe..  Don't even try to get anything that makes sense out of me at night when I am brain dead from a day of work...all I want is my jammies, a cup of tea or wine, and something to read or a movie to watch while I chat with Stevie Wonder.  ..swish, swipe..


Now, having said that, will I try it again?  You betcha!  What is life without plans, something to strive for?  If I didn't have something to work toward, or something on my plate I was trying to accomplish, then I'd probably be dead.  So...thanks to all of you who have cheered me on, and taken the time to read my posts.  I appreciate the feedback I get, and try to make my posts worth your time.  And for those of you who read and write blogs, I admire you all.  To write daily, or regularly, and to keep up with life is not an easy task.

But...it is a task worth doing.  And satisfaction to be gained in the accomplishment.  So bravo to you all, readers and writers.  You make me want to keep trying to be a better writer.  You.  Thank you all.

~cath xo
Twitter @jonesbabie