Declaration #1: Giving up "X"

As this is "Public Declaration Week" on Despite Lupus - it's time to get started by revealing our X, Y and Z's. First, we'll work on our X's - giving up something that doesn't improve our chances of living well, being healthy, or keeping our disease in check. Thankfully, we're only talking about giving up one thing here - as our "X" is decidedly singular. (You can thank me later.)

Maybe it's a troublesome little habit or a not-so-healthy food that is, literally, weighing you down. Just pick one thing that you are willing to publicly declare to do without. (Note, of course, that the definition of "publicly" may vary here. For those of us who have, hypothetically speaking, a blog with hundreds of followers, it may feel a bit riskier and/or permanent than those without. Nonetheless, declaring is declaring. So to those non-bloggers out there - don't let yourself off the hook. Stick to your declaration...at least for the first day!)

Without further ado...let me introduce my Declaration Numero Uno: Giving up "X" -

I, hereby swear, to give up the following semi-destructive, very unproductive habit of writing a blog post the night before it's to be published. Why, you ask? What could possibly go wrong when I'm trying to bang out a post about living well, despite lupus in the wee hours of the night? Well - a lot.

First of all - when I'm tired, wit, articulation, and brevity don't come easily, so efficiently writing a good blog post seems practically impossible. It takes me twice as long to write a post, and it's usually not very good. It takes an extra dose of editing, and usually isn't a very cohesive post. And the clock goes from 10pm to 11:30pm way too quickly - it should take me half that time to collect my thoughts and knock out a post. But at night - I just can't seem to think as clearly. It's totally unproductive and not a good, effective use of my time.

Secondly- when the clock is ticking, and I know that my bed is calling - I become a panicked perfectionist (as panicked a perfectionist as one can get when we're talking about writing a blog post, mind you.) When I get into perfectionist mode, I tend to want to add things - like pictures, or links, or anything else that takes up time to incorporate. Inevitably, the picture I want to use has to be downloaded from my camera first, then color corrected, red-eye reduced, and cropped, and then, and only then, can it be uploaded to my post. Or if it's a link - it has to be the right link....not the one with the picture that I can't stomach, or the one with conflicting information, or the one that isn't as relevant to my post as I think it should be. Oh no - I have to search, and search, and then search a little more before finding the "perfect" link. And that takes time...much more time than I've allowed myself, starting at the late, late hour that I have.

And finally, how fast do you think my little head is spinning after staring at a computer screen for an hour, even after I've shut off my computer and crawled into bed? Way too fast to fall asleep, I'll tell you that much. So does it do me any good to do something that requires a great deal of thought and creativity before bed? Absolutely not.

So for those three reasons, as well as many others - I will no longer start a blog post after 6pm, if it is to be posted the following day. I can do a little touch up to a post after that time, but I can't even look at the following day's post after 10pm. Not even a little peek. Or a look-see. Or a spell check.

There. I've done it. A public declaration of "X."

Now how about you?

Comments

Sportsgirl said…
I'm going to cut down on alcohol. I'm not going to give it up completely so it's not totally "giving up x" but I want to cut it down to perhaps 2-3 drinks a week max.
Sara Gorman said…
Glad you're on board! I'd say any form of sacrifice counts here. Without a doubt, cutting back on a little bit of anything takes some discipline - so best of luck!
Brecken said…
Reading your blog is the number one thing that keeps me committed to living the lifestyle that helps me to be the happiest and healthiest I can be while living with chronic illness.....therefor I am committing to never missing a post!!!
I hope you will always know what a blessing you are to all of us that read your blog!! Your book and blog have completely changed the way I live and manage my illness and life!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Sara Gorman said…
Brecken - What a wonderful comment...thank you! I'm so glad you read the blog regularly and that it speaks to you. Know that your thoughts will keep me writing...thanks for the encouragement!

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