I love books.

I love the way a book feels in your hands.  There is something about the binding and the fine print that makes you feel smarter just by holding it.  In a day where you can have 1,000 books on a device as small as your cell phone, I still buy hardbacks.  In my music room at home, I have a bookshelf full of them.  There’s fiction, non-fiction, inspirational, classics, reference, self-help, and even some children’s books from when I was a kid.  If you were to walk in there, you would think that I read all the time.  Well, I do.  Kinda.

I haven’t finished a book in years.  The last time I finished a book was probably back in high school.  I usually have several books with me when I travel but I never finish them.  You could call me a 40% reader.  This means I will only finish 40% of the book I’m holding.  I get distracted, put it down, and never pick it back up.  In the last 8 years, I have started more books than I can even remember.  But I love books.

So many things in our lives can be compared to this “problem” of starting something you can’t or won’t finish.  How many times do we do this?  It’s not just books for me.  I can start cleaning the house, get distracted, sit down, and not finish the job I started.  Or I can say I’m going to do something and either forget or just neglect it long enough that someone else does it, or its just never accomplished.  I wonder what life would look like if we combined our desire to do things, with real discipline to follow through and actually do it.

It’s February 10th and I have already dropped the ball on most of the things I wanted to do differently this year.  Whether it be laziness, busyness, or both, I haven’t done them.  The reason I feel we never finish what we start is because we say we want to do something but don’t have the discipline and perseverance to actually fulfill our desires.  If I would’ve had a plan and stuck to it (even when I didn’t feel like it), my music room would be full of books that I had actually read.  It wouldn’t be full of empty desires and failed attempts at following through.

We all have areas in our life where we need discipline.  Maybe its reading books.  Maybe its spending time with your family.  Maybe its working out.  Maybe its spending time with God.  Whatever your “thing” is, I hope you see it through.  You can desire something all you want but until you put your desires into motion and actually do it, you’ll never accomplish anything.  Desire will only get you so far.

Do what you love.  Love what you do.  Finish what you start and finish strong.