Three Sticks — Something for Everyone

Yesterday, I experienced a rather interesting feeling. On my way to work, I discovered that I was extremely happy. It was an odd feeling because although I have a good job, I don’t usually enjoy the commute or some of the politics that drive many of the organization’s decisions. Nonetheless, I found myself excited about the day.

After some reflection, I realized that much of my joy stemmed from having been so productive over that last week, especially that morning. Earlier this week, I started getting up at 5:30 am in order to have enough time to work on my 2 blogs, Three Sticks and SafetyNet Personal Security Blog. They serve different purposes and require different kinds of efforts. Three Sticks is intended to help people overcome their fear and grow as individuals. The SafetyNet Personal Security Blog is intended to help educate consumers about online privacy and security and to promote my company’s SafetyNet Wireless Firewall product. A result of this difference is that each blog requires different kinds of content. Three Sticks generally consists of original articles written by me while the SafetyNet Personal Security Blog consists primarily of aggregated content (new, tips, alerts etc) from others around the web with some original content written by me. The goal of the SafetyNet Personal Security Blog is that it will one day be a community driven site meaning that the community will produce most of the content for the site. However until that takes place, I am solely responsible for keeping the site fresh.

Obviously, my having a full-time job leaves little time to write. In addition, I have a 1+ hour commute both ways which further shrinks the amount of time I have to write. In short, the only stress-free, creative time that I had was in the early morning. However there was a small challenge with starting my day early. As any of my friends can tell you, I am not a morning person. I prefer to work late into the wee morning hours having stayed up all night rather than to get up early. Making the shift has not be easy, but I found Steve Pavlina’s article, How to Become an Early Riser, and I put some of his suggestions into practice. Although it’s only been a week, I’ve been pretty successful getting up much earlier.

By getting up at 5:30 am, I gained an extra 2.5 hours each morning to do my purpose driven work. It felt like regaining some of my freedom. The joy that I felt in accomplishing work that that aligns with my purpose was invigorating. It made the rest of my day which at times can be fraught with frustration bearable. I should not have really been surprised that I felt that way because in Matthew 3:7 - 10, Jesus calls on us to be productive and to produce good deeds. By doing so we gain a greater connection to God, which is the source of our joy. So in hindsight it was perfectly reasonable that I should feel happy and joyful because I was doing the work that God has called me to do.

I am anxious to see how long I am able to keep this schedule. I believe that with God’s continued guidance that I will keep this schedule for most of my life, but we shall see. It is a good sign that I got up today at 5:30 am on Saturday to write this article.

If you are looking for more time during the day, I suggest that you try getting up earlier. I believe that it will make the rest of your day richer and happier.

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