Keep the Main Thing ... the Main Thing

Our Borders store here in town is one of the 200 closing across the nation.  Bummer ... I hate to see the big banners "Store Closing!", "Everything Must Go!", "Nothing Held Back!" draped across the front of the building.  And soon the store will be one big empty space waiting to be filled ... so sad.

Now I can't claim to have ever been a big spender at Borders ... but I was a frequent browser.  Of course, that means I just might have contributed to their current problem!  Oops!  Anyway, I have always enjoyed strolling through the stacks of books, scoping out potential new reads, looking for fresh titles from my favorite authors and doing all of that with a café au lait in my hand!

After we read the news of the store's closing, my husband and I talked a bit about how's and why's of it's current dilemma.  Keeping in mind that neither of us are economists :) we came up with one possible element in their business plan that might have led to their financial problems:  over-diversification.

Our shopping ... er, make that browsing experiences at Borders revealed that you could buy just about anything there.  If you were looking for a book, perfect.  If you were shopping for a newly released DVD, no problem.  If you were looking for a CD by an old favorite, bingo.  If you were shopping for stationary, pens or journals, head to the front.  If you were looking for an aloe plant, head back to the kid's department.  What?  An aloe plant?  Yep ... right back there between the puzzles and the easy reader books.  Like I said, over-diversifaction.

It would appear that in their attempt to provide a little bit of everything, they lost themselves in too many things:  books, movies, music, coffee and shrubbery!

In the same way, I want to be careful about not over-diversifying myself here at Snapshots.  And that's easier said than done.

As I begin the process of networking with other bloggers, visiting other sites and discovering the vastness and variety of the blogosphere, it is easy to get caught up in the hundreds (or possibly thousands) of topics, themes and interests out there.  Oftentimes I find myself reading a new-found blog and thinking, "Oh ... that's a good idea!" or "Hmmm ... maybe I should try something like that."  While there is the potential for this practice of "seeing what's out there" to enrich my writing, sharing and posting ... there is also the risk of my blog being transformed into a site that has too much to say in too many ways!  I want to steer clear of the temptation to try to appeal to a wider audience at the cost of losing my purpose in writing here at Snapshots.

In light of that, I have recently started to re-evaluate my purposes in blogging.  Why did I start?  What is my purpose?  What is my focus?  What is my motivation to keep at it?

My desire, more than anything, is to capture and celebrate the little moments of life ... and share that with whoever wants to sit for a moment and celebrate it with me.  Along those same lines, I hope to direct my readers' attention back to God ... the Giver of all these celebratory moments!  I think that if I can keep my eyes focused on these two main points, the rest of the "stuff" will just either fall away or fall into place.

Here's to keeping the main thing, the main thing ... and not going down the same road as Borders!  I hope to be around and writing for a good long time - sharing encouraging stories, passing on helpful Mommy-tips & tricks and salivating over delicious menu ideas.  That's what makes my blog, well ... my blog!

Thanks for reading today ... and coming back tomorrow!

Although ... I do think I'll have to stop by and pick up that aloe plant.  I think it might come in handy this summer, what with all the skinned knees that we typically end up with once we're running around in shorts!


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Be sure to pop over to the sidebar and check out "What's for Dinner" and "Trekking Thru the Bible".  I'm back from our Spring Break and ready to get back to our "normal" life ... whatever that is!