John R. Fischer

One of my resolutions in 2024 was to start a blog. I suceeded from day one…up until April when I had to shut down my site due to issues with some of the photos I was using. The whole experience made me take a step back and take some time to get my life in order and learn more about running a blog and website properly.

I realized that one of the biggest issues I’ve always had is taking on too much and trying to see ahead into the future to plan out everything. The whole experience is stressful and just leads to a lot of frustration, headaches and annoyance when things don’t work out or when I stumble and make a mistake. The cycle then repeats itself over and over again, and it’s because I do not slow down.

I, like many others, am always looking to rush everything. A phrase that I have been thinking about lately is, “It’s not how much you do, but how well you do it.” Putting in the work is only half the challenge. The other involves timing and selection. You have to carefully select what you can and want to do, and you have to take your time.

For instance, I am trying to get back into exercising but rather than run three miles like I used to, I am starting off slow by running one mile three days in one week. I plan to take this up to two miles and then eventually three. I realize that this means I won’t have as much time to do certain things, like maybe watching as much TV, but anything valuable in life, like your health, requires sacrifice. It’s all about balance and give and take.

So, here I am relaunching my site today on January 1, 2025. I am going into this with a completely different mindset than I did before, one where I don’t try to lay out the trajectory of how many times a month I will post to this blog or what specific content I will post. Instead, I’m taking each day as it comes and will write whenever I feel the urge to about what I like or don’t like based on my experiences and perceptions of the world. I want it to be fun as well as informative.

I am treating this blog as a work-in-progress and hoping it will help me learn more about myself. At the same time, I hope it helps anyone who read its and can provide insights and answers to any questions you may have about what’s going on in your life. I hope that in writing this post that I am already helping you by advising to take things slow.

It’s also important to show yourself grace when you mess up, because you will. If you feel like you are getting overwhelmed and doing too much, then just stop and do nothing. Take a break for a few hours and go back, assess, cut out what you don’t want to do as much in your life and prioritize what you do want.

I’m not going to say that 2025 will be the best or let’s make it the best, because I don’t know what the future holds. Instead, why don’t we just sit back and see what the universe has in store for us this year and take each day as it comes.

Happy New Year, everyone!