Finishing the Gauntlet

To complete my assignments, a quickened pace must be considered.  Moving through the HOBO gauntlet often finds me outdone at HO or HOB.  Getting to HOBO seems a Herculean task, beyond my reach or ability.  This morning's journal entry, however, instructs.

I have to be quick about doing what I know to do.  Pace is [also] driven by knowing why a thing needs to be done.  Urgency quickens feet and fingertips and getting all the way through the gauntlet, each time, is becoming more important.  Content at each station impacts different efforts in my life and leaving engagements unfinished affects the next steps in my life.

A newer approach to the gauntlet begins with an old strategy.  Start with the Bible and stay there until the Lord speaks.  Using scripture to get my writing day started is different than starting my day with scripture and writing what comes to me.  If nothing comes to me, reading scripture is still excellent preparation to write; to write well a writer must read well.

If reading scripture brings me to a thought, handwriting is initiated.  If scripture does not inspire me to write, reading scripture in the STALL will move the pen.  Once the pen is moving, I am on the first leg of the HOBO's gauntlet.  Starting a gauntlet differs from finishing a gauntlet.

Starting a gauntlet may include pomp, applause and a crowd.  Finishing a gauntlet is a lonely negotiation between the assailed and the assailants.  Adoring crowds matter not as the victim stumbles toward the finish line.  Perhaps my imagery is morbid because of the many attempts to write that have left me bloodied at the feet of distraction.  Handwriting is the beginning of the HOBO's gauntlet.

Transcribing handwritten material to online platforms is a second step in the gauntlet.  To transcribe requires transition; I have to find another gear.  Swirling elements prevent the transition and selecting where I'll be in the moment is a liminal decision.  Will I be a needy, primping adult in the mirror?  Will I take more time arranging ornate breakfasts or intricate workouts?  Or will I lay distractions aside to do what I feel the Lord is calling me to do in this season?  Questions swirl while the gauntlet's goon swings.  

To date, the score is gauntlet all, Alex none.

Discovering the distance between the third step in the gauntlet HOB*O and my track record is humbling.  I have nothing to show for ten plus years of blogging, journaling and reflection except a stack of handwritten journals, a meekly read blog and more drafts than publications.  No book exists, though I've started writing a book dozens of times.

I'm so far from the end of completing a gauntlet, I don't even know what the last O stands for.  Bloodied, defeated and disoriented, assailants have sent me, again and again back to the beginning.  The 12 Week Year states we have all kinds of good ideas but if we fail to execute, we end up starting other great ideas again.

Finishing the gauntlet is a form of execution.