Genesis

“You don’t have to be great to START,but you have to start to BE GREAT.” Zig Ziglar.

In the beginning…

The word ‘Genesis’ speaks of beginning,commencement or even starting and in starting this blog, i was continually haunted by this word..”Genesis”. No matter how much i tried to ignore it or drown in out with busyness, excuses and ‘reasons'(as Pastor Moses Mukisa liked to call them), it kept banging on the door of my conscience. “Begin…begin” it screamed.

I wondered if God,the creator of the Universe, struggled with the same procrastination just before that famous verse “In the beginning..”. There He was about to transform this formless,void and dark mass into what would become the dwelling place of the crown of all His creation, Man. Would Man like it? Would he appreciate God’s gesture? Would it be good enough?

Even though it is obvious that God,in His perfection, did not grapple with these trivial concerns, I cannot say the same for my self. I wrestled with these questions(in regard to the blog i wanted to start and the audience i intended it for) for two weeks from the day that i was supposed to start this blog.

Resistance

In his book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield says that in the path of every one who wishes to create a piece of work, stands an invisible force called Resistance. It springs up and creeps up on you the moment you decide to do any work of significance.

Needless to say, i found myself battling this monster every time i finally gathered the guts to sit down and begin this ‘work’. It would whisper in my ear things like “it’s too hot right now,your creative juices flow better in the morning.”, “It’s still too early, first wait for the sun to come up!”, “What are you thinking starting a blog? The only significant piece you ever wrote was in High school for an English Composition exam..and we both know how that turned out!”

Resistance sounded so rational, it almost made me believe this voice in my head was my voice of reason giving me good advice. However, It(Resistance), got one fact wrong that caught it side footed. Yes, my last significant creative writing was in High School BUT i got a distinction in my English final exams. So Mr. Resistance, i am not that bad at writing as you would like to so emphatically assert, in fact I am pretty decent at creative writing as evidenced by the vote of confidence in me by the UNEB examiners!

The big Mo.

Armed with this confidence boost, i proceeded to set my self up online and began the journey of writing my first blog. The singular act of deciding to ignore the voice of Resistance and start, whatever the circumstances, perfect or not, set me down an interesting path.

At that point another force took over, what John Maxwell calls the big Mo(The Law of Momentum). Ideas of subjects and topics flooded my mind, structures presented themselves and i was soon faced with yet another problem, i couldn’t stop typing away!

I could now hear Resistance screaming in pain “stooop…stoop…you are killing me!” Picture a vampire scampering and shriveling away into dust at the sight of sunlight and the crucifix. That was Mr. Resistance for you!

He left the scene like the devil until an opportune time(Luke 4:13). I suspect he will return the next time I have to write another piece or undertake any creative work but I will be ready for I am now aware of his schemes.

Just do it!

Therefore,my friend, have you set yourself a goal to start a blog, write a book, paint a masterclass, start a business, or do anything creative but are facing Resistance and as result you find yourself paralyzed and unable to move forward? Take the advise of Zig Ziglar and just start. Just do it! There is no other way of defeating Resistance.

And don’t mind whether your first step is perfect or not because “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you do it well.” Zig Ziglar.

Just do it!