My 2009 New Year's Resolution

I generally have disdain for the custom of making New Year's Resolutions. But for some reason this year I find myself looking ahead to 2009 with a sincere desire to do better in an area of my life. So, despite the obvious hypocrisy of a resolution mocker becoming a resolution maker, here is my 2009 New Year's Resolution:

I will be a better blogger in 2009.

Let's face it:  If I had been arrested the past few months for being a blogger, there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict me. There are a lot of excuses I could proffer for my postlessness, most of which are actually true and were genuine impediments to blogging.  I am in the process of transitioning my role at Multicast and for the last four months I have basically been doing two jobs.  My travel schedule has ramped up during that time period as well. In October, I started serving as the worship leader at a new church in the Atlanta area ending almost two years of getting to just be "Joe Church Member" on Sundays and Wednesdays.

All the above did in fact conspire to make it more difficult for me to be a regular blogger this past year.  But the bottom line is I didn't make time to do it.  On some level, I had a desire to blog, but that desire wasn't strong enough to overcome my lack of inertia, desire and discipline.  Simply put, my heart wasn't in it.

Sometimes we need to take an honest, unbiased look at why we do what we do in order to gain a renewed passion for it.  That is exactly what happened to me this week courtesy an incredible piece in one of my favorite publications.

There is an excellent article in the new issue of Relevant magazine by Brett McCracken entitled "The Problem of Pride in the Age of Twitter."  It deals with the narcissism and self-absorption that is a natural by-product of the technology that exists to customize our world for us.  We give the world a minute by minute, play-by-play insight into our lives and our thoughts. We share our thoughts and opinions with the world via our blogs. Playlists on our iPod customizes the running soundtrack of our life.  We customize our desktops to suit us and design RSS feeds to give us the information we want to receive, customized and personalized just for us, of course.

McCracken's observations sting and convict.  You realize that one of the side effects of customization is the reinforcement of the insidious notion that the world does indeed revolve around me.   Reading and reflecting on the article made me give very serious thought about whether or not I should be blogging, twittering, and being active on Facebook. 

At the end of that thought process, I came to the conclusion that the answer to the question was yes, I should be involved in those things; in fact, that I should be MORE involved in those things going forward.  This post, and my resolution specifically are about blogging, so the question was, 'So why blog?' 

You have to search your heart and find the answer to that question for yourself, but for me, there are two primary reasons why I choose to continue to blog in 2009:

1.  I need the discipline.  It may sound like I have fallen victim to the very pride that McCracken was warning against, but I do feel called to write.  And the way you become a better writer is to write for public consumption.  You get feedback - and frequent correction - from your readers.

2.  God can (and will) use it.  Again, this may sound prideful, but it really isn't.  If God has given you a platform, He will use you to minister to others.  If you are a blogger, you know the feeling when someone posts a comment or sends you an email telling you how God used something you wrote to touch them, inspire them, convict them, or encourage them.  Again, if you are not careful it can go to your head and pride will again rear its ugly head. But as long as you remember that it is the work of the Holy Spirit and not you, it is a humbling experience to know God used something you wrote (or said, or sang...) to make a difference in someone's life.

In 2008, I proved that when it comes to my personal blog, I am perhaps the world's worst Internet marketer.  Every time my audience began to grow, I went through a slacker period and ended up losing that audience.  My motivation for blogging has never been and will never be to monetize my blog or to build a bigger platform for myself.  But a larger and more loyal audience is a natural outgrowth of regular posting of relevant content.  In other words, if you do what God tells you to do, these things will be added unto you.  Seems like I read that somewhere.

My New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to be more faithful and disciplined in what God has called me to do.

That and lose 50 pounds, but that is a another post for another day.

Comments

[Randy Elster]

I'm gonna hold you to this one! I want more content!

Also, I seriously do have a goal of losing 50 lbs. this year and I am going to do it. In fact, I challenge you to a fitness duel!