My New Year’s Resolution To Write

The Christmas tree twinkles brightly from the corner of my living room.  Little gold and green and red squares are sprinkled around it’s base like happy confetti.  Ten hand-made stockings line the fireplace mantle, each monogrammed with the names of my favorite people, and stuck in my head in a merry loop is “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.”

Label me basic if you must, but this is my favorite time of year.  The sights, the colors, the sounds, the smells…it all conspires to create an effortless cheer in my heart.  Not to put too shiny a spin on things, but it’s a time when most of us put our best foot forward, think of others before ourselves, and maybe, just maybe, give a little extra thought to that certain baby born two thousand years ago. 

It’s magical, but then all too soon—it’s over.  January settles in like an unwanted house guest, bleak and grey and empty-handed.  But wait…there is hope!  All signs of celebration may be shoved into boxes back in the garage, but all has not ended.

For many, this is a season of beginnings, of fresh starts and bright opportunities.  With the new year comes new chances, and new resolutions.

This year, the weight will come off.

The marathon will be run.

The business idea will turn into a reality.

That bad habit will be replaced with a healthy one.

This year, things will be different. 

I’m not huge on resolutions.  I’m not good at making them, and I’m worse at keeping them.  But this year I’m shaking things up a bit. This year, I will blog. I will publish. God willing, I will finish the second book in my planned trilogy. 

This year, I will write.

It won’t be easy. I mean, I have eight kids.  I have a part-time job.  I have a persistent fear in my head that I’m a hack at this writing business. But I have something else, too.

I have a calling.

For as long as I’ve been reading, I’ve wanted to write. For years getting published has been the number one thing on my bucket list. I’ve let all sorts of things stop me in the past, but the truth is, I don’t have a good reason not to be a writer.  I have loads of mediocre reasons why I could put this dream on the back burner (again), but I’ll share with you something I’ve learned:

There will never be a convenient time to start.

Life will always be happening around you, but the only permission you need to pick up your pen is that little God-whisper in your heart that says Follow Me. It’s go time.

It’s about obedience, really.  And discipline.  And a little thing called perseverance. This is the recipe any aspiring writer must follow in order to get the job done.  Maybe for you, today, getting the job done means publishing that blog post. Or reaching out to that magazine with a pitch. Or, like me, getting those novel chapters written.  It can be done—or not. It’s up to you.

So that’s my New Year’s resolution, my Christmas gift to myself, if you will; to do the work I love, do it well, and do it without excuse.  As William Faulkner said, “Don’t be ‘a writer.’ Be writing.”