Higher Ground

When I first started writing this blog 3 years ago, a friend said it would be a kind of journal.  And the first few posts were about a trip out west for work - what it was like to work underground in a mine.  Since then my posts have more often been about general thoughts at the moment; sometimes specific to events, sometimes not.
Mindful that it is my public face, I've tried to be careful while sometimes venting about issues that concern me.  Sometimes people close to me were well aware and grew concerned about the tone.  I'm glad they noticed and value their insights.
I check the stats on this blog and am often surprised to see someone read a post from long ago.  My first thought is 'uh oh, what was that post about'?.  In re-reading it, there's no cause for alarm.  While it may not speak of a certain event, it does act as a journal for me and jogs the memory of events happening that inspired the writing.
I've tried keeping personal journals at times in my life.  Re-reading them much later, I hated what I had written.  They were too raw and emotionally charged.  With time and perspective, my views about events softened or changed entirely.  I burned most of them.
Blogging works much better for me.  I'm mindful that whatever I write could be seen by anyone.  It still serves as a sort of journal, but it keeps me on higher ground.  It's the higher ground I want to apply to all parts of my life.  I want my thoughts, actions and words to always be mindful that they could be known by anyone and I would not regret them.
The measure is not what everyone else thinks but rather that I will still agree with myself in what I thought, acted on and said as years pass and I gain greater understanding and perspective.