Think you’ll never be able to write a whole book? I mean, they are so damn long. Words and words and pages and chapters, on and on and on. Does it feel like a mountain you’ll never be able to summit?
I used to be pretty active. I skied every weekend in winter and hiked mountains all summer. For our honeymoon, my husband and I did a five-day hike to Machu Picchu. But when I developed a chronic pain condition in 2013, I couldn’t do anything anymore.
My body was so wrecked that walking my dog for ten minutes left me bed-bound and in tears for three days. But I dragged my sorry ass on from day to day, year to year, and after surgeries and hospital stays and years of five-days-a-week physio, I finally managed a two-hour hike.
I felt like I’d summited friggin’ Everest. I mean, just look at this mountain-top pose!
I am not special
You have done things you never thought you could do as well, right?
Are you shaking your head or rolling your eyes? Stop being humble. Stop pretending you’re too cool to play this game. Or your life is too boring. Or you’re too whatever.
Stop.
Take a minute.
Think about what you’ve done in life that you never imagined was possible.
Maybe you did summit Everest. Or perhaps your mountain is simply getting out of bed every day.
Dealing with illness. Escaping toxic parents or a bully boss. Raising a child who isn’t a psychopath (society thanks you).
Surviving depression. Paying bills. Making your marriage work. Leaving your marriage. Climbing the corporate ladder. Escaping the 9-5. Running an ultra-marathon. Limping to the mailbox after knee surgery.
Whatever the scale, you have done difficult things
How does it feel to think back on that?
Complicated, maybe. But there’s good there, right? Pride. Achievement. Confidence. Control. That unshakable feeling that you did this, and you are strong.
You are strong enough to do things that feel impossible.
Like writing a whole damn book. Telling the story about the person who hurt you. Encapsulating the things you so badly want to share.
That feeling you got when you achieved something before? You can have that with your book. You can summit that mountain. And I can’t wait to celebrate with you at the top.
I believe in you. So does this puppy.
Thanks,
Liz "Doing It For Myself" Green
Editor, Book Coach, and Ghostwriter
Green Goose Writing
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