Yes, You're Doing The Thing

I’ve been enjoying the gorgeous weather of a quiet summer. Recently, I took a few weeks off from Twitter to revel in peace and sunshine. For me, the platform can be educational, insightful, and a lot of fun—it's wonderful to celebrate other people's milestones, after all—but it’s also proven that social media can also promote feelings of inadequacy. Managing these tools is a requirement for my writing career, and I’ve come to greatly appreciate marketing plans and scheduled breaks. Sometimes, social media presents too much content for my writerly brain to process—especially when I’m working on long-form manuscripts that require deeper thought… A much different mental process than what happens when I’m on social media.

This time, my break has had an unexpected side effect: I’ve been enjoying my writing and reading time more than I’ve had in the past. So much, I’m inspired to share one of my hard-learned insights with you; it’s a mantra I repeat whenever I fall into that social media comparison trap. I hope this phrase will help motivate and inspire you to find your own joy.

Yes, I am confident you are doing the thing.

I have always been a believer your path is your own to follow, but sometimes I make the mistake of relaying my life's lessons a bit too passionately. Right now? I want to shout YES, YOU’RE DOING THE THING! from a loudspeaker, because everything we do is part of our journey. Everything. The ups, the downs, the successes, the failures—all of it. It’s all part of “the thing” and we’re doing it. Right now.

Journal Prompt: Re-read that statement. Pause. Breathe! How do you feel? Do you agree you are “doing the thing”? Do you know what your “thing” is? Why or why not?