More Than Words

I'm a word lover. So are you, I think. I love the nuances of meaning and the subtle connotations. I love word origins and derivations. I love the way they sound rolling off my tongue and the way they look written on the page. I love to string them together to make something magical. I'm guessing you love that too.

So, why then, am I so caught up in numbers so often?

Numbers like blog comments, Facebook likes, page views and followers. Numbers like sales ranks and reviews and ratings, and now the worse yet, Amazon's author ranking.

I feel like I'm living in a Max Lucado storybook where we all get numbers stamped onto our foreheads so we can be sure and now exactly where we stand in comparison to everyone else. I don't even know why these numbers mean so much to me, but it sure is easy to get caught up in them.

I don't like it. I don't like the way it makes me feel.

My self-worth is not defined by an Amazon ranking or the number of comments on a blog post.

My success as a writer is not defined by how many books I've sold. (Maybe in some ways it is, but not in the ways that I am going to use to determine my success.)

I'm finished with those numbers. I am who I am. I've done what I've done. And I think I have a lot to feel good about. So do you.

I'm not paying attention to those nasty numbers anymore. Let's surround ourselves with beautiful words instead.