Received this beautiful letter from a reader who generously gave me permission to share it with you. Read it and be quietly inspired.
Hi Ken,
I wanted you to know I continue to read and be inspired by your blog, though I comment seldom. I always feel like my comments are too long or not quite relevant. The reason I’m writing to you today is to tell you what’s been going on with me these past three and a half weeks, in part due to your blog and newsletter.
When I got the first few “Something Daily” emails, I kinda put off doing stuff. I guess I wasn’t quite ready for that first step. But a few days after I got your first message, I was ready. I’ve been working on overcoming procrastination for a really long time now. Finding you came at a good time for my readiness.
Your story about taking your first step on a treadmill resonated strongly with me. I knew I just needed to take one step. On July 1, I took my first step. Literally. I started walking around my neighborhood. I’ve tried walking before, but it always felt like a chore. This time I was armed with two new weapons. One of those was your idea of being Mildly Creative. I had no goals for my walk other than to get out there and walk. Fast forward to now, and I’ve walked nearly every day this month. This week, I started working out at the gym. Again, I have no goals or ideas about what I should be doing there other than to show up and do something.
It occurred to me today that this is the same philosophy I’ve encountered in yoga classes. The idea of honoring your body’s wisdom. My yoga instructors would encourage us not to push our limits or try to surpass what we could do yesterday, but instead to live in the moment and listen to what it is our bodies need in the here and now. That’s how I’ve been working out at the gym. Instead of telling myself I need to do x reps at x weight and x sets, I do what feels right for me at the moment.
I feel successful, but in a very calm way. I feel like everything is starting to gently fall into place. Like I said, I’ve been working on overcoming my procrastination for a very long time now, so you aren’t the first person to give me great advice how to do that. But something about your way, your gentle nudge to just get out there and take that first step, has made all the difference to me. For me, it’s made the most sense. It was the impetus I needed.
I’m not sure I’ve been able to adequately describe the positive impact you’ve made on my life, but I hope I’ve gotten close. Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself through your blog. You’ve changed at least one life for the better. 
Sincerely,
KL
Thank you again, KL. This is really what I want MildlyCreative.com to be all about. Gentle progress. Small but soulful steps to something better. You’re a true inspiration. Keep it up. I’m pulling for you and I’m sure everyone else who reads this will be too.
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Imagine what you do for people in your daily life!
Thanks so much for sharing! Very inspirational!
Since I’ve started reading your blog I have been able to take some positive steps as well. I took the advice to do something daily seriously – whether big or small – and applied it to my new business idea I want to launch. I still have a way to go before things are fully operational but thanks to your nudging I have almost finished one major component that is required to get things up. And not long ago I was paralyzed and not doing anything because I was thinking too far down the road to be practical. This concept works! My idea is moving forward everyday and soon it will come to life. That is sooo cool. My new bus is almost here!!!
Thanks once again,
Mo
Forget the bus. Soon you’ll have your own sports car. See you on the freeway.
Damn! Now you’re reading my mind!!! The bus is nice and the change to a new one is necessary but will be short-lived! I will be me and the new bus will not be able to contain that. Autobahn here we come!
I don’t have to read your mind. I just have to read mine. We human beings seem to have a lot in common.
I’ve been doing basically this for most of this year, and it’s wonderfully liberating. The long(er) version:
Last year, I started up as a volunteer firefighter, at 41 yrs old. In January, they started providing a rec center membership for us, and I started going. My “reason” many mornings for going was simply to do *something*, as I didn’t want their effort to get this for us to go to waste. In 7 months, I’ve gone from not being able to run 1/2 mile to running 1.5mi the last several runs, and 1.6 mi once (letting my limit be a reasonable target heart rate, not my pain threshold, which would be higher). I’ve also seen similar results on weights.
I have no goals, no plans, no “need” to surpass what I did yesterday. I’m comfortable with setting a new best distance, and then not seeing it again for a week. And for that matter, I still don’t even consider myself a “runner”. A “real” runner in my office (dude is training for a marathon, but that’s *his* thing) keeps wanting me to push, go harder, keep training. I keep laughing, going at it mildly, and making more progress than I’ve ever made before in many previous attempts.
Thanks to both KL and KR for their stories and encouragement. Gentle and mild is just awesome!
DJ
I love that. “Gentle and mild is just awesome!” What should we call that? Being mildly enthusiastic?
being quietly inspired by hearing all these cool stories.
thank you
Me too, melly.