Please don't stop posting. I find your blogs very interesting and thought provoking.
Yes the information is helpful. Please keep going :-)

The truth of the matter is if you reach just one person with your posts then you have done enough. All we can do is provide our insight. People can either accept it or reject it. Free will and all. But that is with anything in life. All you can do is live your truth and hope it is helpful to others. And even if it isn't, if writing and confronting your own BS (I like that by the way) helps you then by all means keep doing it. I write my blogs for me. Do I like when people read them and respond? Absolutely!! But the truth is, even if no one responded I would still write them. I know people are reading them and not everyone is comfortable replying.

I was trying to come up with a phrase to describe what my answer would be and KiwiGal came up with just the right one: thought provocative.
I like that.

Originally Posted by KiwiGal

Please don't stop posting. I find your blogs very interesting and thought provoking.
Yes the information is helpful. Please keep going :-)

Hi Lisa!

Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate that you not only notice the content of my blogs, but that you find my writing style enjoyable.

If I insinuated that I would stop posting them (my blogs,) I apologize. I was more eluding to the fact that I might ween the content I write about if not for any other reason than I don't want to come across as a know-it-all blowhard.

Do I think that? No. And I do not mean that in an egotistical manner. I think the information - while it may not be for everyone - can benefit those who might be interested, hence the reasoning behind me taking time to do so.

In any event, after some serious contemplation I have decided to continue to do what I do not only for my benefit, but for the benefit of those who are interested. In short...I'm not going anywhere. I am here for the "long haul" as they say.

Have a great day!

Originally Posted by Christie13

The truth of the matter is if you reach just one person with your posts then you have done enough. All we can do is provide our insight. People can either accept it or reject it. Free will and all. But that is with anything in life. All you can do is live your truth and hope it is helpful to others. And even if it isn't, if writing and confronting your own BS (I like that by the way) helps you then by all means keep doing it. I write my blogs for me. Do I like when people read them and respond? Absolutely!! But the truth is, even if no one responded I would still write them. I know people are reading them and not everyone is comfortable replying.

Hey there Christie13!

Thank you. Just...THANK YOU!

I really needed to hear everything you said in your response to this blog. If not for any other reason than to kick me in my backside and to tell me to get on with it, I really did need to hear what you had to say.

I know it may not appear as such, but I do write for myself all the while keeping in mind that this will be posted publicly. Armed with this understanding, I tend to utilize content that some may find pertinent to their current situation, not because I want to hear myself talk but because I am constantly trying to learn everything I can about this process, and in doing so sometimes come across information I feel is worthy of being shared. Nothing more. Nothing less.

As you stated, I too enjoy it when the community reads and comments on my topics. For me, every ounce of the blog post and subsequent responses is cathartic. I tend to learn a great deal through this medium and the community as a whole, and for that I can not thank everyone enough. You are all a great group of individuals who each bring to the table a unique set of experiences that not only I, but others can benefit greatly from.

Thank you again!

Have a great day!

Originally Posted by DutchSleeve

I was trying to come up with a phrase to describe what my answer would be and KiwiGal came up with just the right one: thought provocative.
I like that.

Hi DutchSleeve!

What else can I say but thank you for everything you bring to this friendship? You have been a source of inspiration, information, and help from the first day we corresponded to one another, and for that there aren't enough words...

As I like to say to folks I think are awesome: "You are all aces!"

Have a great day!

It's your blog, write what you want! I like them :-) And also Christie had a good point about how lots of people come on here and never post so lots of people can be reading. have a great day Shannon :-)

Keep writing! Sometimes you just need to get it out whether or not you think it is helping someone. It is helping the most important person....you.

Originally Posted by Stacey03

It's your blog, write what you want! I like them :-) And also Christie had a good point about how lots of people come on here and never post so lots of people can be reading. have a great day Shannon :-)

Hey there Edie!

You're absolutely right. It is my blog. As such, I can choose the content (so long it is not harmful or offensive to others.)

After reading Lisa (KiwiGal) and Christie13's responses, it made me realize that while I enjoy it when others read and comment on my posts, that really isn't the purpose of me writing them. I write them for me as a means of openly discussing things that I wouldn't normally be afforded the opportunity of discussing elsewhere. And to be quite honest, I couldn't think of a better group of people to discuss WLS and VSG with than the amazing folks that reside here in the Gastric Sleeve Community.

I do apologize if it came of a little whiny. That was not my intention. I simply wasn't sure where to take my posts next - then I realized that I simply need to continue doing what I have been doing all along. (Sometimes I simply want to choke myself out as I can make my own life difficult for no apparent reason - LOL!)

Have a great day!

Originally Posted by Luv49ers19

Keep writing! Sometimes you just need to get it out whether or not you think it is helping someone. It is helping the most important person....you.

Hi Cody!

You are 100% correct in your evaluation. It is helping me, and that is what matters most, isn't it?

Don't get me wrong. It is great fun to openly discuss things with others on here, but ultimately that is not my purpose. My purpose is to discuss topics I feel are pertinent to the WLS/VSG community, to bring forward information regarding my personal journey, to seek the help of others, and to aid the WLS/VSG community as a whole.

I have always said if one piece information I have shared can aid just one person then that makes everything else worthwhile.

Have a great day!

Haha... It didn't sound whiney at all! You are a thinker Shannon and there is nothing wrong with that :-)

Originally Posted by Stacey03

Haha... It didn't sound whiney at all! You are a thinker Shannon and there is nothing wrong with that :-)

Hi Edie!

You are 100% accurate in your assessment of me. I am a thinker. However, sometimes I think too much, which in and of itself can be a huge problem - as has been displayed from time to time within the pages of this blog.

But hey...it's all part of who I am and what I am made up of. I believe it is a strong character trait of mine, none the less, it can be difficult to manage sometimes.

Have a great weekend!