One Word for 2023: Believe
I saw a documentary recently. It shared the stories of elite gymnasts. Not just the hours of training, mentally and physically, but the hours of injury treatment they go through every.single.day.
The gymnasts make it look so easy out on the competition floor, don’t they? The vaults, the flips and turns.
We don’t see the rest. We don’t see that these athletes start the day in a treatment room, getting injuries worked on and taped before morning practice. At midday, they go back for more treatment and taping before a second practice, and again before evening practice. The athletes hurt, they make a decision to keep going, and they tackle it for their goals.
They believe.
In themselves. In their goal. In the process.
Why is it so important to believe?
Because all around us we see all the fluffy, happy, edited lives on social media. This person is surrounded by a loving family, that person just won a podium spot at a big race, that author landed a coveted agent for a manuscript.
Then we look at our world, in all it’s tarnish: imperfect relationships, taped-up mental and physical injuries. And we can get very down, sure we don’t have what it takes to get as far as all these other people. Or that we aren’t going to make it to our goal.
An Epiphany for 2023: different but the same
I realized we’re not too different, in some respects, than these gymnasts:
- We all set goals
- We all hit rough patches
- We all fall short of expectations
- We aren’t perfect examples of humanity.
- We stumble and fall.
Like those gymnasts, we have a choice: to believe or give up. To tape ourselves back together and try again.
2023 is here. And with it opportunity and new life experiences. There will be hiccups and setbacks. But we can believe. And keep moving forward.
On those rough days, take a step back and get some mental and physical rest. Check out these posts to help you revitalize your inner self, before diving back into your goals:
- 2 Steps to Better Cope With Those Inevitably Rough Days as a Writer
- 7 Steps for Healthy Emotional Endurance for Writers
So grab that tape and wrap your injury, bolster your self-confidence, and believe.
Believe it won’t be easy.
Believe you can do it.
What’s YOUR inspirational word for 2023?
As part of the January Insecure Writer’s Support Group monthly blog hop, writers are discussing thoughts on NaNoWriMo and our experiences participating. I’d like to thank this month blog hop hosts: Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin!
What a wonderful post, Miffie! You are so right. I need to remember the “all around us we see all the fluffy, happy, edited lives on social media” part. It’s like all we see or read are the finished books and stories of others. Not all the sweat that went into preparing the manuscript. The tears. The depression. The “no one cares about my story” parts. Oh…sorry! That’s what I go through with each manuscript. Maybe others don’t.
All best to you in 2023!
Victoria- Thanks for dropping by. And yes! Plenty of us get to the “no one cares about my story” part of the emotional roller-coaster ride of writing. You are definitely not alone there! Best of luck with digging into 2023! Believe! Happy New Year.
Hi Miffie!
Thank you for the wonderful reminder that “There will be hiccups and setbacks. But we can believe. And keep moving forward.”
Congrats on the book deal for your reference guide! That’s awesome!
All the best in 2023!
Thanks for dropping by Michelle! Happy New Year!
“Believe” is a great word for 2023. Happy New Year!
Thanks Yvonne! Same to you!
For insecure writers, believing is hard, isn’t it? I’ve started to tell myself what you’ve posted. We are only seeing such a small window into everyone’s lives. It’s like customer service. To the customer service rep, they are only getting phone calls about the bad things (when things get broken) so they start to think everything is just busted at their employer. But people don’t generally call to tell them how great something is :D. It’s the other way around with social media. We don’t usually see how things are falling apart, only the joys in people’s lives. It’s not necessarily bad, but we have to remember we’re only reading a tiny quote from their much longer book.
Yes, exactly, Kristina. The real window into their world is a bit more tarnished. I think it’s much better to think of social media as everyone’s personal publicity media, instead. The “look at me” moments that are rather hollow and miss the gritty reality of life. The best example I had recently was in the movie Jumanji (the remake with The Rock). In one of the opening scenes, a young blonde character is laying on her bed taking a social media selfie, pretending to have just woken up, when, in fact, she had spent quite a bit of makeup time already. Absolutely perfect example. I suppose my ‘believe’ does not include ‘believe in social media!” Good luck with your writing and Happy New Year.
Like Victoria, “Nobody cares.” is what that awful voice tells at me when I’m at my most vulnerable. Believe is a great word. Belief that following our allurements brings good things to all around us regardless of what we produce keeps me going. Happy New Year!
Thanks for dropping by, Adrienne. Happy New Year!
That’s just it – we see the end product, the polished piece. Not all the struggles in between.
What was the special? Was Nadia one of the gymnasts? I still remember her perfect 10s.
Thanks so much for dropping by. I don’t remember the name of the especial, but the focus (on the how hard it is behind the scenes and how tenacious those athletes are) stuck with me after so many years of personal injury with my triathlons. IOt put everything in a better perspective as I tackle a new racing year. And I also remember Nadia-what a wonderful athlete. I watched all the gymnastic Olympics growing up and she was so amazing! She set the bar high for so many that followed (forgive the pun!). Happy New Year!
Help and support, having a team to care for injuries between, that certainly sounds like it would make a big difference. I have a cousin who helps me sometimes (more when I was nursing a severe wound), and I know that made all the difference.
“Without having a goal, it’s difficult to score.” Paul Arden
I hope 2023 will become everything you need it to be.
J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Reference& Speculative Fiction Author, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, and Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge
That team support definitely makes a huge difference, but so does the underlying mindset. I have a hunch those athletes would tape themselves up and get on that mat if they had no one to do it for them. And a goal makes all the difference in the world. In many respects, that’s why I sign up for a race. Because it will drive me to a higher training level to follow-up and try…even if I don’t make it. Maybe “goal” would be a good word for 2023! Happy New Year!