What are you afraid of? Yesterday, I watched a vlog on YouTube. At one point, the young man shows a table filled with different camera equipment. The title of the video blog is “This Equipment Terrifies Me.
I know of the young man and BDoubleO is no amateur in the area of video editing. The quality of his videos are quite good. Then what is he talking about?
Am I talking about John’s gaming channel? No. John has a live channel that is used for video blogging. It’s called BDoubleOLive. John and his wife regularly share snippets of their lives with the audience. It’s all in good taste and fun.
As per his usual style, John tries to encourage the viewers in certain areas of their lives. The title of this video is “This Equipment Terrifies Me“. He’s talking about overcoming personal fears.
As John is talking, I can just hear a certain voice asking, “What are you afraid of?”
A couple of weeks ago, I made some very important changes to my blog site, Inspiration Point. For one, I am certain that you notice the new layout design for the blog.
Did you not notice the sidebar is on the left side? Did you not see the icons in the header image? How about the menu?
If you’re on a smartphone or tablet, then you’ll notice other changes. The new layout isn’t the only change. Did you notice the new article posted on Monday? If so, you’ll know that I’m introducing a new topic to my blog site. What about my book? There is a link to it, in the sidebar.
Everything sounds good. What the heck are you afraid of?
I am afraid of my efforts being wasted. I am afraid that I will not be able to meet the challenges of writing three articles, per week. For Inspiration Point to grow, I have to write quality articles that people will read and share with other people.
Marketing may be Queen; however, Content is still King. For effective growth, the two must work together. For me, I have to step up my game. Did I not just mention the goal of posting three articles, per week? In the past, I’ve only managed to write one blog post, per week.
Fear and anxiety can only lead to paralysis. The”What if” game is a game of dead ends. I need to move forward and not let fear and timidity reign. I love what Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7.
2 Timothy 1:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
This is a true saying; however, there is one problem. I need to walk in the reality of it. Have I arrived? Have I mastered it? Guess what?
I am still learning. What about you? Discipline requires training and a willingness to make mistakes. Did you listen to John’s story? Flying a drone is not an easy thing to learn. The young man had to practice flying the drone.
How is it different for me? I have to practice and develop my own skills. If I sit in fear, then I will not see improvement in my writing skills, storytelling or anything else. How about you?
How does one become discipline? It begins with a decision. If you want to lose weight, then you make a decision to lose weight. If you are an aspiring YouTube entertainer, then you make a decision to create appropriate videos for your chosen genre. The list goes on.
I made my decision to write for Inspiration Point, years ago. I made the decision and I followed through with it. Did you catch that last part? You have to follow through; once you make your decision. It’s why I am still writing for my blog. It’s why I finally got my book published.
Once I got started writing articles for my blog; it became easier to sit and write something. My challenge came in the form of appropriate contents. This is not a political blog site; so I’d not likely write about the upcoming Republican convention.
The real challenge came in area of pacing. How many articles could I write per week? What tone to set for my various articles? Plus, I am not writing for myself; rather I am writing for the readers of this blog site. So, I have to write an article that is of value to you.
OK. How do I do that?
I asked the very same question, when I started writing for my old web site. The answer proved to be simpler than I originally thought. It goes like this. Prayer + Faith + Trials and Errors = Results.
In Proverbs 3:5-6, we are told:
Proverbs 3:5-6New International Version (NIV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Over the years, I have found prayer to be a great starting point for any planning. It doesn’t mean that I don’t talk to anyone. It means that the believer is to seek God, first. My Father has always been helpful; even if it does not seem like it.
There is a secondary part and it’s an important one. It is “Faith”. Faith is an action word and you need to act on what is believed. Yes, Abraham believed God for what has been promised. However, he still needed to act on it. Abraham still needed to get up and leave for the land of Canaan.
Yes, I trusted that God would help me. Nevertheless, I still needed to sit down and do the work. These articles do not write themselves. Do they? No, they don’t write themselves and I have to take part in the process.
Here is the third part and it goes back to the original question. What are you afraid of? Here is a shocker. I am going to make mistakes in my writings and I’m not talking about typos. The same thing applies to creating YouTube videos or anything else.
Here is the key. Don’t let your fears paralyze you. A couple of years ago, I would have pointed to someone like Paul Soares Jr. or BDoubleO and I’d use them, as illustrations. Today, I can take a different path.
In the beginning, my writings had plenty of problems. I was starting out and I needed to find my voice. Yes, there is “voice” in writing. I didn’t let these things stop me. I persevered.
I took steps to improve my writing skills. I read articles on improving my blog site. I, also experimented with different ideas. The same thing applies to other areas of life or endeavors. Because I stepped out and persevered, my writings is better for it.
Today, I am doing something that is new. Last week, I sat down and planned out my articles for this week. On Monday, you will have read my first book review. On Wednesday, you’ll hopefully see this article. On Friday, I’m planning my first Tech Talk article.
If everything goes well, I will look forward to writing three articles, per week. For me, I can’t sit down and create a definitive plan of action. I’m more likely to go with the flow. So, I have to work out a plan that’s appropriate for me. For others, they would schedule every aspect of their week.
You need to pick out a plan that works best for you. Though I’d encourage you to be flexible; so you can easily make changes. For you do not know what tomorrow will bring you. Only God, the Father knows that one.
This weekend, I will plan out the following week. Will I do book reviews on Mondays? It’s possible; however, it remains to be seen. The same principle applies to Friday. The one definite is the three articles, per week.
Courage is not the absence of fear; rather it is your response to it. Will you choose to run from the difficulties facing you? Will you choose to press forward? The choice is yours, to make.
You are not alone in facing these challenges. You do have the option of asking Jesus, for help. In Philippians 4:13, Paul says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Don’t be afraid to ask God for help.
What are you afraid of? Don’t let your fears hold you back. Though BdoubleO is a capable YouTuber; he can’t write my articles for me. I have to do it. I can’t create YouTube videos for John. He has to do his own. Do you understand what I’m saying?
Christianity Explained 