Learning to live again

Okay so I've made a pretty big life decision. Church did it to me actually, so in this case I suppose I can blame God. A little over a week ago my oldest nephew was going to be baptized. This meant that I was going to have to go to church. While I love my church dearly I had also grown to dearly love not going to said church and instead sleeping in on Sunday mornings. But for the first time in about four months I got up, went to church, and then got slapped smack dab in the face by the Almighty. You see the preacher was preaching primarily about our focus in life. What do we spend our time on, what do we think about, what do we thirst after in life? And I was forced to face the fact that for me, my focus for the past two months had been poker. I wasn't neglecting work but I was neglecting other things. I wasn't hanging out with my family as much and my day pretty much began thinking about poker and ended thinking about poker. Oh and guess what wasn't going on at all... creative writing.

That's right, the thing I am most passionate about, the thing I believe with all my heart I was born to do, I was not doing. At all. And in that wonderful church it struck me just how stupid and wrong I've been for these past few months. Let me say this about poker. I believe, truly and absolutely, that within two years time I could make a living playing poker. But, to do so would mean it would have to continue to be my constant focus. And that's not something I'm okay with anymore.

So, while I'll continue to play and enjoy the game, it's now back where it should've stayed; as a hobby. What then, will I spend my days doing? Writing, good people! Writing until I can write no more. What will I be writing? Ah, I'm not sure I'm ready to spoil that one yet. I do know that I've got a novel that's about 80% completed and a short story collection that's about 75% completed, so you can be sure those will be getting some attention. But the big thing, the main thing, that is something else entirely. It's an entire business, an enterprise if you will, that I'm embarking upon with my beloved big brother Phillip. Will it make us rich? Probably not. Will it be awesome? Most definitely. Will we have a ton of fun doing it? No doubt about it. Will there be lots and lots of awesome fiction to read as a part of this new business? You better believe it.

So that's really all I wanted to blog about tonight. I appreciate all of you out there, be you family or friends. While nobody gave me any direct grief for my past few months as a poker obsessed degenerate I was starting to pick up on some worry coming from a few of you and I appreciate that. I think I was closer to going down, not a dark path exactly, but a path that wasn't exactly in line with who and where I want to be in life, and I think the indirect worry of my family helped me realize that. But mostly it was getting facekicked by God with that sermon that was so obviously directed right at me.

So anwyays, stay tuned for the big announcement and more excitement! I hope you all had a wonderful Monday and that your week's are off to fortuitous beginnings! I know mine is.