I Messed Up
Posted by Hari Berzins on Oct 8, 2012 in Recent Posts | 17 comments
Dear Subscribers to My Blog Post Feed,
Thank you for subscribing! There are many more of you than I realized—WOW! I set up FeedBurner (the service sending the emails of my blog posts) about a year ago, and really have no idea how it works, but I did something right, and you’re all there. Yahoo!! If you haven’t subscribed, it’s free, and it ensures that you will receive all posts in your inbox. To subscribe to blog posts, enter your email address in the box over there. ———>
I am writing to explain the email you received this morning, the password protected one. Sorry about that. Here’s what happened: I enjoy writing my weekly letter (a paid subscription) and building that community, so I thought I’d try recording a little audio blog for last week’s letter, and it worked! I got emails from letter subscribers like this one from Linda:
“I love your audio just as I love and enjoy your weekly letters. I know your lifestyle is real because I know you, have met you and your family, but for others who have not had the pleasure of meeting you, the audio brings to life YOUR life.It makes contact with you that is REAL. Good job!” thanks, Linda 🙂
That gave me another idea: what if I password protected a blog post, so letter subscribers could comment and discuss in a private group. Without further thought, I did it.
That’s what I do. I get an idea, and I go for it. Funny thing is, this week’s letter is about how I’m working on slowing my decision-making process down. Maybe I’ll start that tomorrow. 🙂 Anyway, I got an idea, went for it, and it worked. Sort of. As soon as I clicked publish, it occurred to me that FeedBurner would send it to subscribers of general blog posts (you). I immediately logged in to FeedBurner to stop it, but couldn’t figure it out. So, I let it go.
Just a few years ago this would have eaten away at me. I would have felt dumb, under-qualified, like what-the-heck-do-you-think-you-are-doing? But today, I feel okay. I realize that many of you probably didn’t even open the email, others opened and deleted it. Some emailed me: “Hari, I got an email that says it’s password protected. Anyway, here’s what’s going on in my life. . .” (Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with me!)
I made a mistake, because I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m doing it anyway. That’s what happened. I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll forgive me. And if you’d like to subscribe to my weekly letter, I’d love to have you!
Here’s the thing:
Walking courageously means being okay with messing up. The possibility of making mistakes is much greater when we say “Yes, let’s” to life, but it keeps us learning, growing and living.
One more thing:
If you know how to stop a post from going to FeedBurner, I’m all ears.
* * *
Be well, folks. And enjoy the season! I’ve included a collage I made with my new iPhone. I’m loving taking pictures of fall. I wish I could keep the leaves on the trees just a little bit longer. Ah, the passing of time.
Simply,
Hari
P.S.
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17 Comments
What happens to your mind and heart when you move into a tiny house?
Photo by Veronica Santo
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I was wondering what had happened. I thought I might have screwed with something.
Don’t be sorry, Hari. Technology is all about trial and error I say. For instance, I got an email from a reader this morning requesting that I put a “subscribe” option on my blog. Great idea, I thought. I did a bit of research, discovered that Subscribe2 has a pretty good following and positive feedback, and went about attempting to install it. I didn’t read the instructions or anything. Who does that? Sure enough, it didn’t work and I gave the idea away for today. I’ll have a play with it tonight maybe. Or I might give Feedburner a shot.
Hi Paul! Thanks for your encouragement. All of this life is trial and error, isn’t it!? So nice to feel acceptance from all the way down under! Hey, FeedBurner works for me (mostly) 🙂 I like that it’s part of google, so a lot of my tools are in one place. Go for it!
Paul, I was going to email you back and tell you about feedburner. Try it, it was pretty easy:)
I agree!
what a beautiful home you both have made for your family
congratulations to Karl, for being such a great carpenter, is beautiful is cozy and best of all, the family is together, and the good Lord is watching over all of your family, and thank you for the lesson: we don’t need so much to be happy. I know, I lived in a house a little bigger, but there were 8th of us in that little house, but we were happy
God Bless all of you
Thank you 🙂
Thank you, Graciela! Be well.
How else do we learn than by trying new things? Also, letting go of the need to be perfect is a big step toward personal peace. (And peace in our relationships with others.) 🙂
Hooray for personal peace! So nice to make a mistake and not beat myself up about it. Much love! xo
I should have added that I am a work in progress! 😉
Aren’t we all!? 🙂
Wow, dunno how mama and papa find “private time”, I guess a secret walk out into the woods ;). God bless.
Nice guess 😉
I just discovered you today, when my husband sent me a link to your story on Houselogic.com. I am feeling so energized. I want so much to get out of the house we’re in. It was a dream house when we moved in, I’d hoped to fill it with kids, but we were not able to have them, nor could we afford to adopt, in part because of home repairs that escalated into huge amounts.
If only… oh well, there’s nothing to be done about it now, but the house I’m in makes me so sad. We filled the void with junk, stuff and several boxes of art and craft supplies I’ll never get to. Luckily we also had wonderful pets over the years, but our last doggie(we had 2 cats and 2 dogs at our peak!) died in March. Because we plan to put the house on the market, we have decided to hold off getting another furry baby until we’re in a new place, not sure I’ll be able to stick to that one though.
I so admire what you’ve done, and I will be reading deeper into your story, just wanted to thank you for sharing your saga, and I hope we can do it too. Though we loved Virginia when we lived there, our plan is to get to Florida where our families live. So far today I’ve cleared out a closet, so much to get rid of, but at least I’ve made a start. Thanks again, and love to you and your beautiful family.
Hi JC,
Even though it’s hard to see at the time, the hard things can end up being the blessings in the end. I know what you mean about a house making you sad. What you are doing is inspiring to me–you are taking the difficulties and letting them inform your next step. I hope your house sells quickly and that you get a great price! Clearing out a closet is huge!
Thanks so much for reading and sharing some of your story with us. Shining light on our dark times helps countless others know that they are not alone. Blessings to you and your hubby.
xo
Hari
Just stumbled only your site following little house links. What a powerful message – walking courageously! Thanks for sharing! I’m sure I’ll enjoy traveling through your site and on down the road with you. Take care.
Hi Denise! I’m so glad your path led you here. I welcome you. 🙂