I am *not even a little* ashamed to admit I haven’t been blogging/writting/journaling lately, or even making time to do it. I am sure this is of little concern, to you. But for those of you who are entertained by my wit and charm, not to mention my humility, and oh so often self-deprecating manner, sorry.

Image Credit ThePioneerWoman.com

<Here is where I rat myself out.> If I am gonna tell clients, friends, colleagues about the importance of blogging or vlogging, but turn around and be a BIG FAT SLACKER I gotta shut my pie hole.  Luckily, my good friend Mack Collier invited me to be a special guest on #BlogChat next month, and that lit a fire under my arse to get “back in the saddle again.” (If you are unfamiliar with #BlogChat it is an online community that has a weekly one hour chat to talk about, you guessed BLOGGING it’s on Sunday nights at 6pmPT.)

It’s very easy to get burned out, distracted, stop caring or not prioritize my own personal/professional growth measurement tools. AND….that is *exactly* what blogging has done for me. It has provided me a tool to look back at my life and see where I was at any given time. Most significantly I am able to see re-occurring themes, like burn-out.

It makes sense that after traveling for the later part of 2011, my dog getting sick, me getting sick, a couple new clients, and the holidays to boot, put me into an “expression writing” rejection. But I have to admit, it’s been a nice time-out.  I was really feeling overwhelmed, and inarticulate. I just couldn’t get in touch with that voice in my heart that helps me write. I was even doubting myself and my own abilities to some extent.  I wonder if most writers (leisure or professional) go through stages like this? Am I right? Help me out here…I can’t be that unique, can I?)

ARE YOU A CAN NOT or WILL NOT?

I KNOW the difference between can’t do it, and won’t do it. When I get busy I make decisions that are based on the best time management skills I have at that given moment. Since I am far from being perfect I don’t do things that would lead you to believe, that I am perfect. I make mistakes. It happens. It will happen again. And again.

You can either make excuses, or you can change your ways. Most people CAN do anything. It’s just that they don’t or they won’t. I am just like most people so I know that if I want to do something, nothing will stop me, except me.

TIME GETS SMALLER & WORK LOAD GETS BIGGER

When I am discombobulated I like to shake things up. Here are some of the things I do:

-Ditch my routine. I am a creature of habit so I try to do the opposite of whatever I think I should do.

-I am a free-spirit and self paced so I make a list of what needs to be done, and check them off one at a time. If you live by the day-timer/planner /list you may want to try something that feels opposite and just start by being spontaneous.

-Exercise, meditation and prayer always give me balance and help clear my head. After a year of meditating, I know without it I get off balance. No exercise, I get cranky. Forget to pray and I am a mess.

-Stay away from negative forces. Sometimes you have to clean out your friend closet. I am not saying turn your back on people but sometimes you have to let the Drama Queen take her tiara somewhere else to get it polished.

-Turn the phone ringer off or put the phone away. I am baffled when this one family friend answers her phone but is kind of short, a little bitchy and tells me how busy she is along with how crazy things are and how much she has going on and blah blah blah and feel like in Frienado.  Well gee, I just called to see what time BBQ is on Sunday and do we need bring anything.

-Do something good for someone else. Doing good makes YOU feel good. <Period.>

-Clean your the house. As I clean I feel like I am de-fragmenting my mind and sorting through whatever is going on with my brain simultaneously. These emotions go in this drawer, bleach this stuff out of my brain, fold these towels into future ideas for a new function on someones Facebook fanpage, vacuum all the crap from my email inbox and dust off that blog.

I am committing to myself to make time to write every day, not necessarily for my blog but for me. Writing grounds me, connects to my spirit and like I said, gives me something to look back on and gauge what was going with me at any point in my life.

Let me know what you do when you get off track….Also what you think of my “therapy” writing?

I will leave you with some Gene Autry cause that is always a good thing!