The Next Chapter...

I love to read! Buying a new book is always exciting for me and I love diving into the first couple of chapters. I find it exciting to read, almost exhilarating as I flip through the pages with anticipation and expectancy!! Well, this is how I feel in the beginning anyways! Then, as time goes on, the excitement of reading, flipping from page to page and then chapter by chapter finishing the book simply wears off.

I don't know why this happens. I really do like to read but I guess life just gets in the way, I get stuck in my day to day routine and reading just falls off my priority list. Before I know it, I'm stuck on the same chapter, for weeks or even months until the next time I pick the book back up. Sometimes, by the time I pick it up again, I've forgotten the first half of the chapter and now I’ll restart the entire thing all over again! This has to be the worst because now I’m just reading what I’ve already read once before, that’s pretty pointless wouldn’t you say?

I was thinking about this the other night and realized just how similar this habit is to my lifestyle. So many times I start off on something new, I'm excited and determined and this will last for a little while but then, before I even know what’s happening, I've stopped doing what I set out to do. Suddenly, my hopes, dreams or plans are back on the bookshelf of my brain until the next time I decide to pick them up off the shelf.

It’s not intentional. I know that my hearts desire is always to finish what I start but I guess life just gets the best of me and no matter how focused I am, taking the sidetrack seems inevitable. Sometimes I get so frustrated with this vicious cycle, I want to scream and sometimes I think this isn't the worst of bad habits to have! However, lately I've realized that it actually is that bad.. My “little habit” has left me on the same chapter of life for far too long, far too many times and I refuse to allow even the smallest of things to hold me back from “the next chapter” of life any longer.

I’ve literally become sick and tired of sitting in the same place, hoping, dreaming and even praying for advancement yet when I look back, the start line seems closer than it was last time I checked. Even worse, I cannot take another day of a chapter “re-read” because I’ve been stuck for so long, I forgot where I was and had to start all over again.

I’ve realized whenever I start something, whatever it may be, it needs to be finished. There has to be some sort of resolution or completion in order to move to the next thing. Life is all about progression, not stagnation. My deepest desire is to finish what I’ve started. No matter how small, or big, I want to finish it out and see the results. Being stuck like an ant in honey is not how I want to live my life.. Yes, it might be sweet at first, but that will only last so long before that honey swallows the little ant alive. I don’t want to be swallowed alive by a moment that seems sweet because I don’t have the determination, discipline or faith to move forward.

For every chapter of life you stay stuck on, reliving it over and over without ever finishing, and for every chapter of life you fail to complete, there are multiple chapters waiting to begin.

I have decided, with my whole heart, mind and soul, that I will move forward in life. Chapter by chapter until this book is finished. I will not re-read another second of life, wasting time on what was, when everything that is awaits my arrival is just ahead..

I can’t be the only one… What have you started and never finished? What hopes, dreams or goals do you have sitting on the bookshelf of your brain waiting to be picked back up again? Pick up where you left off and don’t ever stop again…

Perseverance always prevails.