My 100th Post

Whoa, I’ve made it! A hundred posts. This probably will be my most reflective post on what it feels like being a blogger, in my own words. Also, this will be last post this year.

At first I thought being a blogger was easy. I mean, all you do is write right? Boy was I wrong. I think all bloggers out there have to realize that blogging is like a real job. You can’t just sail through it, and most of all, you have to stay committed! Sometimes I go to other blogs to post the latest comment, and before I’m done commenting, I realize look up at the date and realize that it’s one or two months old! Other times, I see that people have not posted in months!

I think when everybody starts blogging, we feel like we’re the “only ones” doing it. Then before you start to explore, you realize that one person is blogging here, another person is blogging here, and before you know it, everyone’s doing it. But like I said above, half of those people stop.

You know, I’ve read a statistic that there are than 50 million blogs and counting, that 175 thousand blogs are created every day, and 2 blogs are created each second of the day! Although it’s an overwhelming feeling for me since it feels like there are so many blogs out there, and I’m just so small in comparison, it’s a good feeling that everybody that is doing blogging is doing something to contribute to the world with their own ideas and seeing how diverse the atmosphere is.

Blogging, is essentially just writing, and I think through writing, we can see a lot about a person’s personality as well as their maturity – what they have gone through in life and what kind of unique experiences they are willing to share.

Some people write short posts. Some people write really long posts. I try to keep my posts at least a thousand words because that stretches my mind. Even though there are days where I say, “Oh man… I don’t want to do this…” I can’t just put anything up there – a thousand words actually makes me have to put effort, and I never want to develop a habit where I’m just putting three to five hundred word articles that take under thirty minutes just for the sake of it. Usually it takes me at least two hours complete a blog post and publish it. Doing this ensures that I at least growing a little bit more every time I write.

What’s was fun about blogging was the firsts of everything. I remember before I started Wordpress, I used a website designer called XSitePro2. Oh boy, was that hell! I had to design the entire website from scratch and the end result was a blog that looked like it came out of the 80’s. (I wish I still had the blog so you guys could see it). It was really frustrating because I even needed to make the own comment section! I’m so glad someone looked at my blog back then and brutally told me to switch to Wordpress now.

Excuse me… how can I make this blog better?

Switch to Wordpress now! Just do it now!

Well, it wasn’t exactly like that but he seemed very angry for no reason. So I did. Everything in Wordpress came included like comment box which made me happy.

For most of my life, I have I consider myself a “late bloomer.” I didn’t get my driver’s license until after my three best friends got theirs (four of us). I didn’t get a girlfriend until my first year of college. I didn’t get my first blog comment until six months after I written my first post! From March to September, I seriously thought I was writing to myself. So sadly, I pretended that my posts were read by thousands of imaginary people which kind of made me felt better. (But… please don’t tell this to your friends).

But after my 80th blog post, somebody left a comment on my blog! Thank you! I was such in a state where my blog was empty, that when that happened, I felt I had been beamed in the head. You ever get that feeling?

I think persistence is the key to success, but not only that, you got to also work smart. So I’ve changed my ways to not just writing and waiting, but to go out into the scary internet and interact with people. Although this gives me less time to write as many blog posts as I use to, reading what other people have written has opened up my knowledge to the vast world of bloggers and great writers out there.

I hope everybody had a good 2009 year. The honest truth is that when you constantly surf on the internet, this year hasn’t been going so well for a lot of people. I encourage all you guys to not give up. Just because there is one year that most not have been so well, think of next year as a beginning of the next ten years. Where do you want to be ten years from now?

I also encourage everybody to look back in the year and reflect on what they have learned. What kind of grateful experiences did you have in the past? For me, it was kind of just a transformation of a new culture. I spent most of my year on an island called Taiwan, next to China.

It was really neat to see my family members, especially hanging out with my only grandparent left – my grandma – who often brought me to the temple nearby in order to pray to the gods for better health. She is very kind, as well as the people in the streets. Also, about every weekend early morning, my uncle would take me hiking in the green mountain valleys of Taiwan, and although it was tiring walking up the trail, it’s a very exhilarating experience to be able to see the world of the busy city below you. It feels like time is going in slow motions when you’re at peace with nature. I will never forget grateful experiences that have helped me grow as a more worldly person.

Perhaps this year didn’t go so great for you. Sometimes when I’m surfing on the net and it seems like this year many people were depressed. Whether it’s people not being able to find jobs because of the economy, people spending Christmas time alone, or people generally just hating their life, know that in every moment of our down times, there will always be another day ahead.

Times may be difficult for some of us this year, but don’t put your head down. I’ve had some pretty depressing times in the past too. Sometimes you feel like nothing is ever going your way, no matter how hard you try. Just keep going, believe in yourself, and I assure you that you will find a moment where you totally snap out of the blues and find your groove again.

What’s nice about the internet is that you can communicate with people when you have problems. But I wouldn’t recommend it as a problem solve forever. You need to get out of the house! Even if it means jogging around the neighborhood or taking some jump shots at a neighborhood (sometimes that I prefer). Most people don’t know that just some simple exercise will go a long way to fill your mind and body with calmness and clarity.

It’s a beginning of a new decade and I think that this decade technology is going to explode. We’ll have robots that can sense or emotions and make us happy. We’ll be able to have flying cars that are affordable. Things are going to change, but not just the world, but for you and for me. Make a decision right now that it’s going to change for the better and eventually, you’ll find that it will.

Anyway, this will be my last post for the end of the near year. I think I need a three day break. So, before I end this post, I just wanted say thank you so much for a wonderful year, thanks for reading my blog, thanks for existing, and thanks for being you! You are awesome and I hope next year will bring your joy and success for the new, upcoming decade. See you in a couple of days and have a happy new year!

photo credit: stanrandom

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