Don't Be a Lemming

Sometimes we over-informed, suffer from short attention spans, and super eager to be a part of things. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, as we.....er, I begin a new year (Hello, 2014, you arrived far too early!), I realize how SO many things sound like fun and that I should join in said fun.

• A friend posts her first image of 2014, tags it 1/365, and I immediately think, "Hey, I should do that!"
• I get an invitation to the One Little Word class for 2014 and I'm ready to register.
• Someone else shares their new Read the Bible in a Year plan and I start thinking about which plan I'd like to do this year.

But here's the thing. Or maybe two.

1. I can't do everything that sounds like fun. Oh, I can try, and often do, but it leads to being overwhelmed, frustrated, and eventually disappointed in myself for falling behind. At least most of the time it does.

2. Just because my friends, the "cool kids," or whoever else is doing it, doesn't mean I need to (I sound so parental!). Their journey isn't the same as mine. We may cross paths occasionally or even walk the same road for a time, but I don't have to follow them everywhere.

What I really need to do is stop and think about it. (Anyone else cue over to Aretha Franklin in the Blues Brothers at that moment? Or was that just me, too?) Is this something that I truly desire to do for myself? Is it something that can fit into my life? Am I already committed to another project that may be quite similar?

And how about this?

Could I just enjoy the projects that other people do without always feeling the need to do it myself, too? Read their posts, look at their images, listen to what they have to say. Then encourage them in their pursuits. Pretty simple, really. No pressure on me. And then join in only on the things that really have some sort of value to me.

I've already committed to a few such projects and I think I need to stop right there.

Before diving off the cliff.

Happy New Year!