WFMW - Blogging - The Accountability Factor

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Everyone who blogs has a little bit different reason...I've been thinking lately about blogging for me - why I like it, how often I do it and what its purpose in my life is. It's a great place to keep family & friends up-to-date on what's going on with Walker and the new baby, but for me, I've realized it's also more than that. Blogging for me, provides accountability.

As you may remember, I've been working on getting my life together for awhile now - in this post, I talked about my quest to get things in order around here before our little girl is born in January. I shared several pics of my desk...some that were looking good, others that showed some of the work-in-progress! I'm pleased to report that I have continued to make progress - my desk is looking pretty good and has been for the last couple of weeks (which for me, is a huge accomplishment!)

I believe we all need accountability in our lives - and while it comes in many different forms, we need to identify what works best for us. I'm accountable to my husband and that is definitely a motivator for me. Especially as my children grow older, I will also be accountable to them, though that's not as much of an issue right now. I'm accountable to extended family and friends - but what I've also come to realize is that I don't have any super-close girl friends right now that I get to see on a regular basis. I have several great friendships...we just either live far apart or don't get to see each other often enough. We've changed churches within the last year, and while I've begun to cultivate some friendships there, none of them are to the super-deep friendship level yet. We don't live in a neighborhood - we're out in the country, so it's not easy to see a friend on a weekly (or even monthly) basis unless I do see them at church...let's face it...all of us are busy these days and it takes dedication & commitment to see folks outside of an ongoing, scheduled commitment (like church) on a regular basis.

Photo by tatianasapateiro

I have come to realize that blogging provides some of that form of "friendship accountability" for me. Not only has blogging provided me the accountability to continue forward getting my life in order, but has also spurred me on to think about and more importantly be consistent with exercise. I have decided that I'd like to exercise at least 4 times a week, and have started posting my exercise list in my blog side bar - and let me tell you...I'm just on week 3 of this plan, but already have had 2 successful weeks and am well on my way this week as well! When we got up last Sat, I told Brad we had to go for a walk or some type of exercise that day, because I wasn't missing my exercise goal for the week - without posting here...that would never have happened!


Photo by kris decurtis

I'm also using this space to make sure that Christmas is more peaceful and enjoyable for our family this year. W is 2 and can really start to participate in some Christmas festivities and traditions and we want to make sure that we are creating traditions that we want for our family. Every year I have the best of intentions, but let time get away from me, and before I know it...it's Dec 22nd and I still have WAY TOO MUCH TO DO!!! Definitely destroys any prospect of a peaceful holiday. This year I'm determined that Christmas will not sneak up on me! I'm already making my list and checking it twice and will continue to do so here on Mondays between now and Christmas...do you realize that as of tomorrow Christmas is 9 weeks away? Does that blow your mind, freak you out or do you already have a plan in place? I am so thankful that I am the latter this year!



Photo by notsogoodphotography

So as you're continuing on your blogging journey - don't forget to utilize the accountability factor! Blogs give us the ability to benefit from community and that creates the perfect environment for accountability. Enjoy the journey, but make sure that it's helping to better you along the way! Any areas where you could benefit from some additional accountability these days? Accountability through blogging certainly works for me - head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for other great WFMW ideas! And head back over here on Monday - let's enjoy a peaceful, memorable Christmas together this year - remember, it's 9 weeks and counting!