Beginning, once again

I listened to a podcast many years ago where the speaker was talking about maximising your potential and “dying empty”. He painted a picture of the grave being the richest place on earth because of the sheer amount of untapped talent and potential that is buried there, forever trapped within the human vessels that carried them, because they were never pursued or utilised. This imagery had quite an impact on me, and since then, I have been encouraged to make use of all my gifts and abilities, so that I too can die empty. This determination is one of the reasons I have started (or, rather, restarted) my blog, as one of my personal gifts, is writing.

Not to sound cliché or anything, but I have written and loved writing ever since I was little. Teachers, family, friends, and peers would also often praise my writing, plus my essays and creative writing got really high grades in school. One particular memory which comes to mind is when I was in secondary school; during an English class where we’d been learning iambic pentameter, we got an assignment to write a piece of poetry to practise it. When I submitted mine, the teacher liked it so much that he asked if he could hang it up for display in the classroom. Now today, if you ask me what I wrote in my submission, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I just wrote about whatever, randomly, I certainly wasn’t aiming for a spectacular work of art. Yet, my “random writing” was deemed worthy of display. I don’t mention all this to brag, but rather to paint a picture of how these moments, and many others like it throughout my life, made it become quite apparent to me that writing is a natural gift.

Quick musing:

When it comes to discovering your gifts, you often need to look no further than your childhood joys, and the things you do with effortless ease.

Despite this, I haven’t had a steady relationship with writing. I have woven in and out of it over the years, a plethora of start-stop encounters. Unsurprising, as my earlier writing stints occurred when I had not yet met with this concept of “dying empty” and using my gifts to please / worship God. As my motivation to write was merely for pleasure and not purposeful, I had nothing to keep me accountable to it. That is, until the last few years, where God gave me new revelation and inspired me to hone, utilise, and pursue ALL my gifts with intent. I have been doing just that with every single one of them, and my blog is another key phase of this mission.

And so, here I am, beginning this blogging thing once again, equipped with the realisation that my writing’s purpose goes beyond my selfish enjoyment; it is to glorify and worship God, and also to serve others. With this shift in mindset, I aim to have a more consistent and steady relationship with writing (and the church said, ‘amen!’).

Final thoughts

I used to obsess over the future of my writing, needing to know the “big picture” now, but I have since released this obsession over to God (which took lots of grace, because not knowing the specifics is very frustrating for someone as detail-oriented as me, lol). Instead, I have chosen to commit to being faithful and diligent on a daily basis, doing what I can now while continuing to seek God and awaiting further clarity and instructions. Step by step. This mindset comes with maturing in your relationship with God; you discover that it’s okay to not have all the answers now, that His timings are always perfect, and He will give you all the pieces of the puzzle in due time. You need only trust, follow and rest in Him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

So, join me on this journey, and as you do, I hope you are also inspired to pursue a life maximised, fulfilled, and determined to die empty.

P.S. my original blog followers will notice that all my old blog posts are no longer available. I have since outgrown my old content and, in the spirit of beginning again, I wanted to start afresh! Hope you enjoy the new content as much as I will.

xoxo