Leaving the Farm

A dear and trusted confidant provided a friendly nudge for me this evening (thank you Ms. W - you have no idea how timely you are.) She reminded me that it is almost May and the Blond has not produced a blog for April! (Hmm can't be a writer if you don't write sweetie).

I am ashamed to admit that since my last blog post I have achieved Master Farmer status on Farmville (a time wasting devil application available through facebook). As a matter of fact I won a yellow School Bus Tractor that plows nine fields at a time AND earned the mastery of grapes sign. Why? you may ask...I have been hiding. I preferred the controllable busyness of Farmville to the risky and uncontrollable potential for accomplishment in the real world.

How many times have you been really busy but didn't seem to get anything accomplished? It is easy to confuse activity with accomplishment. It's more comfortable to busy ourselves with things we can control rather than getting down to business, sticking our necks out and risking failure. I really believe the key to a life of greatness is in doing the things that are easy to do but easier not to do and doing them every stinking day. For me this is making myself write to gain the experience and develop the discipline of putting my thoughts into words each day. It means realizing that people kind enough to take the time to read my blog are not judges on the pulitzer committee so stop riding that virtual tractor and get on with it.

Success is the persistent and consistent pursuit of a worthwhile goal or dream. It's like quitting smoking. If you tried to quit smoking for life, the task seems insurmountable and so you buy one more carton of cigs and decide to quit another day. However you can choose to breathe smoke free for one minute and then another minute and another until you have quit for an hour, then a day, and now four years for me.

Now I am not suggesting we eliminate every activity that does not catapult us into the next level of achievement. But you can make choices that advance you toward your goal on a consistent basis. If you are like me you probably have a "Farmville" of your own. What keeps you busy rather than getting down to business? Just maybe it's your time to leave the Farm too!