1. Stop trying to gain subscribers
2. Stop kissing up to the so called “mega-bloggers”
3. Stop trying to earn money via your blog
4. Stop thinking, “if I have the right design, THEN I’ll have a popular blog”
5. Stop trying to write what people think is cool
6. Stop trying to impress people
7. Stop referring back to your printed/bookmarked list of “10 ways to become a successful blogger”
8. Stop leaving comments on “mega-blogger” websites in hope that you’ll be noticed and receive a link back to your blog
9. Stop tiring yourself out trying to find new ways to get people to leave comments
10. Stop with the forums, social networks, plugins, shout-outs, and rankings

Write from your heart.

Write about your passion(s).

Write for an audience of one.

It’s taken me a long time to learn this priceless lesson. The result is a freedom that is beyond words.

If you read between the lines (and you know your college football), he was saying that Tim Tebow (Heisman winner, national champion, Heisman runner-up, etc, etc, etc) of the Florida Gators was, at minimum, the 4th best quarterback in the league.

This is relevant because, perchance you live under a rock and don’t know, the Sooners and the Gators meet in the national championship game this coming Thursday.

When the media asked Tebow to respond to the Sooner’s comment, the quarterback took the high road: “It’s an honor to be considered the 4th best quarterback in the league! There are a lot of really good players out there.”

Awesome.

Tebow, a Christian and a missionary in the Philippines, is a heck of a story and a fine example of an athlete.

But that’s just me.

If I WERE to have a resolution for 2009, it would be this: to be nicer to people, especially those closest to me.

I want to treasure each and every relationship that I’ve been blessed with.

Every moment of them.

Ok, so I guess that is a NY’s Resolution. Oh well :-p

As I’ve grown in my faith over the years, my definition of sexy has changed, as I’m currently learning. At present, here are 5 things that I find sexy:

1. Worship - as I recently wrote on my Twitter status, there really isn’t anything sexier than a woman who loves to worship the Lord (although dark hair/blue eyes is a close second). Sometimes I have to make sure to keep my eyes closed during worship at church in attempt to keep my focus where it needs to be: on God. Fear not, I’m not some weird church perv who goes to church to look at girls. I won’t lie, though, a girl who is engulfed in the passion of worship is dead sexy hott (with 2 t’s).
2. Family - a few weeks ago I was innocently looking at some pictures of a female friend of mine. Instead of posting photo albums of her double-fisting a Budweiser and a Captain and Coke or doing body shots off of one of her party “friends,” she had had posted G-rated pictures of her and her family doing family things. Almost without even realizing it, I said out loud, “wow, that’s hot!” Realizing what I had just said, I looked again to make sure I wasn’t looking at cleavage or something. I wasn’t. A girl and her family. Hot. Wow, how I’ve changed. I’m Italian. My family is big, loud, and extremely loving. They hug, they kiss, they talk. Family parties consist of food, games, stories, and lots of love. It’s always been a dream of mine, although I’ve never admitted it before, that “she” would integrate almost seamlessly into my loud/crazy/loving family. Family is sooooo important to me.
3. Life passion - I find it extremely attractive when a girl knows what she wants in life and is actively going after it. Mix in some excitement, drive, motivation, and joy and it’s just downright sexy.
4. Physical appearance - well duh, right? Physical attraction is very important.
5. Conversation - I love being challenged conversationally. I love it when I feel like I have to be quick, witty, funny, etc because the person who I’m talking to provides the same in exchange. Also, I love encouraging conversation. I find a girl very attractive when, via conversation, I feel like a girl is sharing in my highest moments and my lowest moments.

…

Is this a list of “5 prerequisites for the future spouse of Bill Cecchini?” Absolutely not.

I realize that I’ve written a lot about relationships and what not lately. Part of me wants to stop because I wonder if I just look like a desparate idiot. Another reason I sometimes stop myself is because I wonder, “is this stuff even worth reading?” I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m gonna keep writing whatever I want to write. It’s helpful to me and it feels great to put on paper. Also, I’d love to show these relationship posts to “her” one day if she isn’t reading them already.

PS - How about that awesome “sexy time” blog title?? Borat! Very niiiice

My newest issue of Relevant Magazine is my current book of choice. Here are a few quotes from a band named”Cool Hand Luke.” Keep in mind that I’ve never even heard of these guys let alone listened to them. I just LOVE who they are and what they stand for:

As I’ve gotten older, I just care less about who I impress.

As we all talk about it, we’re all of the mindset of however long we have left to do this, we really want it to be about the Gospel. We’re not going to fret if we’re playing small shows or church shows of if we don’t get on big tours.

The best times, the most fruitful times I’ve had on tour, usually have no correlation to how many people were at a show or whether it was a bar or church. It comes down to the people you have in front of you to talk to and what God is doing at a specific place and time.

I don’t listen to very much Christian music. I just don’t enjoy it very much. I think a lot of it is very derivative. I’m not saying that in some way to sound like our sound is a superior genre or that we’re better or anything like that. It’s just that I want to write lyrics that make people think, that point people toward Christ without being trite.

I want to make music that i would listen to.

Christian music is laughable, for the most part, to non-Christians.

If we were going to be on TRL, it would have happened by now, so we will just keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can meet and love some more people and tell that about Jesus. If that means that we make some money and people like our music, then that’s great. But that’s not why we’ve set out to do this.

Now that I’m done typing, I’m gonna go check these guys out to see if I like them!

“Go talk to her,” I told myself.

I passed.

…

Sometimes I hate these “hot girl experiences.” Why? I’ll tell ya!

Plain and simple, there’s about a 1 in 500 chance that she loves Jesus.

So I’d be wasting my time (and building up courage via mental pep talks for nothing).

I don’t want a girl who “likes” Jesus. I’m not interested in a casual Christian.

I will only marry a girl who is passionate about her faith…passionate about Jesus.

And let’s face it, finding a person who is sold out for Christ can sometimes be a loftier task than it should be. Even worse, most hot girls aren’t passionate about Jesus. And worse yet, most hot girls who ARE passionate about Jesus are married…and rightfully so!

I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but it really is quite true.

I’m torn, though. My faith leads me to believe that I don’t need to “search” for her, by the world’s definition, anyhow, but at the same I know that I need to act when the time comes. Maybe I’ll “just know,” as the hopeless romantics such as myself love to dream will come true.

…

True, I’ll never know if she loves Jesus (and is single, and finds me attractive, and doesn’t hit me with her purse, etc) unless I try, but I’m not about to approach each hottie that I see and ask her if she loves Jesus. I’m not THAT desperate…

…yet

j/k

I could easily have listed 66 things I will do as a husband & father. I imagine that both roles are quite the responsibility.

God’s best requires our best. I refuse to give anything less.

I wish I could relax and just trust that God is smarter than me.

Ah, the weight that could be lifted off my shoulders.

I bet I’d even be able to sleep at night!

But no, my life merits worry, doesn’t it? It’s so extreme and unusual. I’m sure that God looks down at me and thinks:

Wow, Bill, your life really does suck. I know my Word says not to worry about anything, but you…bro, you should worry. I’ve never seen a life like yours before. Your circumstances…DANG dude. I have to apologize, I don’t know how I let you slip so far into that pit! If you worry, you can probably make your problems go away faster. I’ll tell ya what. For now, concentrate on all your problems and don’t worry about anyone else. I understand that you’re neck-deep in poop, so why don’t ya just spend some time digging yourself out of that mess. And don’t forget to worry and complain the whole time.

My bad, dude. Hang in there…