Discretion, trust, and obedience (or, Why I need to limit my time on Instagram)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6 😇
But also,
Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23 😁
Watching my friend publish and market her debut novel left me both inspired and intimidated. While being super active with networking with other authors, reviewing and promoting other people's books, and posting beautiful images and videos on social media, she somehow still managed to homeschool her three feisty kids and write new books.
I had an overwhelming conviction that I should self-publish my books, too, but this was coupled with a parallel conviction that as a mere mortal, I needed to do things a little differently. So I researched, and prayed, and prayed a lot more about what publishing needed to look like for me, which is how I ended up setting up my store and running the ads that most likely brought you and me together.
But I didn't tell her about publishing my books for one very simple reason. Being a wonderful friend, I knew that she would have a hundred brilliant but overwhelming suggestions about what I should be doing. My toxic trait is that I get caught up in other people's excitement, and forget that 'real me' and 'ideal me' are two very different people. In light of this, I kept my mouth shut as per Proverbs 21:23, and for several months managed to stay out of trouble, focusing on writing new stories and posting once or twice a week on social media.
Until I joined an author Facebook group where she turned out to be an administrator, and the truth came out.
Just as expected, this sweet, sweet woman was full of advice about networking and bookstagram and videos and tiles and stories, and just as expected, I got caught up in her enthusiasm, thinking, 'Well, why not give it a try? Maybe I'm secretly a graphic design genius who can win at the algorithm!' (Spoiler: I am not.)
So I went into Instagram and implemented her suggestions. Follow amazing and talented authors on Bookstagram? Count me in! Interact with ALL of their posts? I'm on it! Come up with ideas for trendy and fun content? I'm so far from 'trendy' that I can't even see where it is, but I'll try!!
Which is how I found myself moving from liking and commenting on my new friends' posts, to scrolling for hours, gradually filling my head with random people's thoughts and ideas and feeling increasingly awful about myself (and my lack of social media savvy and graphic design skills) - and falling behind on drafting Angela's story.
One night when I was praying, something just shifted, and it felt like the Lord said to me, 'Are you ready to refocus on what I asked you to do? Can you see now why this wasn't the right path for you?'
And I could. When I'm in, I'm ALL in, but trying to understand and emulate what everyone else was doing had grown to dominate my mind at the expense of the things that I had been specifically called to do.
Which is not particularly flattering to admit, especially in a public forum like this. But it's easy to fall into that trap, isn't it? Some sensible suggestions here, some good advice there, and suddenly we find ourselves going down a completely different path than the one that God set us on.
If that's happened to you, too, I give you permission to step off it and refocus on what God told you to do in the first place. For me, this means only Instagramming three days a week. My head is clearer, my heart is lighter, and my story is flowing again.
Stepping off and refocusing on what God has called you to might mean something different for you, but I can say this with absolute confidence: You'll feel better. I promise.
