I cruised quietly past a mile-marker last week and didn’t get a chance to write about it, but I don’t think we celebrate things enough, you know? I don’t think we pull out of our daily grind and take time to enjoy each of these precious moments as much as we should. So I decided to rewind today and let you know:
This is my 1007th blog post.
It’s really all because of you folks. Let’s face it, I enjoy writing, but I’d also give up pretty quickly if no one was showing up to read this stuff. You’re a very encouraging bunch. Some of you comment regularly, a few of you comment intermittently, and even more of you tell me in real life, when our paths cross, how much you enjoy the blog.
I was at a small party a few months ago and no less than three people who I didn’t even know came up to me and told me how much they enjoy my writing. I was (as my dad says) as happy as a beaver in a lumberyard. Listen, if there is a blogger in your life whose blog you really enjoy, maybe once every year or two send them a message or comment on their blog letting them know how much you enjoy their writing. We don’t require much sustenance, us bloggers. A little encouragement goes a long way.
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The other thing I love about you folks is how loyal you are. I didn’t blog for almost all of 2013, yet when I started blogging again at the end of that year, my first month back was my highest traffic month ever, by quite a large margin. So you were patient, and when I came back, you rejoined me.
Then came the time I decided to write a novel and float it on Kickstarter. You crazy folks showed up in droves and fully supported my Kickstarter project…I raised $3,500 in the first 48 hours, and nearly $10,000 total. Do you know how much this means to a writer? Can you even begin to understand how much it means to have a whole group of people behind me, cheering me on, encouraging me?
It’s what I always say whenever I talk about my blog: I may not have the largest audience in the world, but I’ve got one of the most loyal.
Thanks for that.
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This blog has taken me to all kinds of crazy places, including Sri Lanka. Who ever saw that coming? I’ve met dozens of you in real life, and it was like we grew up together. You were with me through difficult times and good times, through miscarriages and births, through stinkbug infestations and way too many bowls of ice cream. Some of you joined me over on Instagram and continue to put up with all of my photos of Leo.
You are good people.
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Can I encourage you with this? There are things I’m doing today only because I hung around this long, only because I was crazy or stubborn enough to write this. many. blog posts.
Find your thing, whatever it might be, and be tenacious. Don’t give up. Don’t let go. Keep writing, keep doing what you’re doing, one step at a time. One day at a time. One blog post at a time. Just one foot in front of the other. That’s how you get to the top of the mountain.
Did you know that if a helicopter could lift a climber from base camp and plop them down at the summit of Mount Everest, the climber would die within minutes because their lungs haven’t been acclimatized to the atmosphere? But a climber, making their slow, difficult way from base camp, will survive the summit, because it’s the trip that prepares them for the victory.
Keep climbing. No shortcuts allowed.
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I don’t usually ask you to comment, but maybe today if you get a chance you could hop down there in the comments section and let me know when you started reading this blog, or how you found it. Or maybe what one of your favorite posts has been. If you leave a comment today I’ll enter you into a drawing and send one lucky winner a free, signed copy of The Day the Angels Fell and How to Use a Runaway Truck Ramp. Share this post on Facebook or Twitter (and let me know in the comments) and I’ll give you an extra entry in the drawing.
So, consider this a huge thank you. 1007 blog posts. We did it, folks. What now? I guess we might as well keep going.
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