I’m Giving Myself A Pass, and You Should Too

Photo by Finn Hackshaw on Unsplash

On New Year’s day, I created a morning routine that I swore I would follow no matter what. And I did.

For 83 days, I got up and left myself an hour and a half to write on Medium and read posts. It was great, and wonderful, and productive. Then real life kicked me in the ass.

I started a new job. Not necessarily the job I want, but it was a job I needed. Yesterday was my first full official day, and there was no way after getting only a couple of hours of sleep I could force myself to wake up at five in the morning to get my writing and reading done.

By the time work was over, I was exhausted and crawled into bed. No writing. No reading. I was miserable and wracked in guilt. I had let myself down and broke my streak.

Today, my shift started an hour earlier. Another night of tossing and turning, and a headache to boot. Yup. There went another morning. I came home from work kicking myself.

Was I really doing this? Giving up my writing in order to work? Two days in a row I failed myself.

But, had I really?

I took a few minutes to contemplate things.

What I came to realize is that shit happens. It happens to everyone and it is how you respond to it that makes a difference.