I just read a post by Aaron over at The Disorientation about giving up on the 52 book reading challenge for the year, and it hit close to home. At one point they write, "I'm setting down the white flag, I suppose."
I know that feeling. I've tried reading challenges a few different times over the years, and I always come up short. Eventually I just stopped setting the goal at all. Why set myself up to fail again, right?
Don't get me wrong, I love reading books. When I was younger I read all the time. Then the internet took over, and somewhere along the way I started reading more online than I read actual books. Is that sad? Maybe a little. I probably should have stuck with books instead of letting the internet pull me away from them. But now with the internet and AI everywhere, staying focused is harder than ever, and finding the time (while my eyes aren't already fried from hours on my phone or computer) is its own challenge.
This year's probably not the year for me to pick the challenge back up. But maybe 2027 is. A challenge might be exactly what pushes me to actually finish what I start, and hitting a real reading goal would be one of the bigger wins I could give myself. And maybe I go analog more often too, actual paper in my hands instead of another screen. It's not like I'd need to buy anything to start either. I get a stack of John Grisham books every Christmas that I still haven't touched, so my shelf is basically daring me to catch up. 🙄