It’s Five Minute Friday time. You know what that means … letting the neurons out of their cages to roam free, spark the heart, mind and soul and trigger the finger movements for a five minute post on a specific prompt word. And when the exercise is over, we’ll head to Kate’s place (in the Community section at www.fiveminutefriday.com) to link up with my amazing fellow writers and share and swap words of encouragement.

You know how much I appreciate this treasured time and I’ve asked you to join in [your really, really should]. But I thought I would add some additional incentive from my fellow writers. Taken from snippets in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat, perhaps their words about what Five Minute Friday has meant to them will inspire you to give it a chance. And I welcome other contributors to share their insights on why this exercise is so important, why they joined or how it has enriched their lives.

“I had opened a blog and never written in it when I found Five Minute Friday in 2013. I love writing, but didn’t know thing one about blogging. FMF gave me the impetus to start writing in my blog. Since then, I’ve expanded, grown, refined. It has been such a journey! I am so grateful for the way FMF drew out my spontaneous side and gave me permission to write without my inner critic editing every dot and tittle to a perfection. I met some of my greatest blogging friends through FMF. We are still connected to this day through social media. One friend helped me launch my new site. Another included me in a blogging group on FB that helped ‘raise’ me through my adolescence as a blogged (which I’m probably still in!). When I look back at all the tributaries in my online writing career, FMF was the source of many of them. Since blogging, I wrote some parenting posts which got the attention of another author who invited me to co-author a book two years ago. That invitation was birthed from my blog which was given wings through FMF. Such goodness!” — Patti

Okay. Back to the task at hand.  The prompt is MEASURE and the timer has been set. So, it’s time  to GO…

How do we measure things?

When it comes to tangibles, it’s pretty easy. You know, measure twice, cut once … or in my case, measure twice, cut once and call an expert.

The point is we have the to0ls to gauge and measure. The instruments help us with scientific and mathematical problems against a standard. You know, an inch is an inch {not those pesky 64ths} and an ounce is an ounce {not a pinch or handful}.

But what about the intangibles in life? You know things life success and emotions. How do we measure those?

Sometimes, we borrow “tools” from the tangible world. We use a series of emoji, for example, ranging from happy faces to sad faces to gauge happiness or sadness.

But how do you measure success? The biggest house? The flashiest car? The most expensive vacations? Those are outward measures, but tell us very little about the inward self.

What about faith? Or self-worth? Or personal satisfaction? Or? Or? Or?

For me … STOP

… those are all tied together — and the key is faith. We can’t “measure” our faith. Honestly, at least for me, if I borrowed the “happy/sad” face as a means of measurement there would be both. A better illustration might be the footsteps in the sand. I’m betting there would be more singular footsteps than paired imprints.

Despite that, I say faith is key in determining — measuring — our self-worth and personal satisfaction. As soon as I recognize there is Someone with me, I can re-focus. My attitude changes. I know I am not alone.

And I can measure my faith by using the inexact measurements of that old rugged cross from two millennia ago. Sometimes I have to see the dying Christ on the cross. Other times I have to focus on the empty cross and — more important — the empty tomb. Those are the emoji I use.

When it comes to my core values I follow my same mantra — measure twice, cut once and rely on the Expert.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Take the days just one at a time.