Choosing to Give Ourselves Some Credit

by Beth Vogt @BethVogt

As I write this blog, we are three days into September. Most people who I talked with reacted to the turn of the calendar page with, “I can’t believe it’s September already!”

No one ever expected COVID-19 to dominate so many months, affecting our lives even as we fought to maintain some semblance of normal. 

 

We’ve tried to laugh off a pandemic with memes, as we navigated through a politically- and racially-charged atmosphere both in our neighborhoods and on social media. Every day we balanced how this affected us personally and professionally.

 

Some of us trudged into September wrestling with the fear that the past months have been wasted. 

 

We haven’t done enough.

 

We haven’t written enough. 

 

We haven’t marketed enough.

 

We haven’t been enough.

 

There is no grace in the words, “I haven’t done enough.”

 

There is also no room to acknowledge what you have done.

 

Sometimes we discount things because we make our plans, numbering our list 1, 2, 3. But then circumstances both small and large trip us up, and we have to focus on unexpected things. Needed things, yes. But they weren’t on our list.

 

We stare at our important-but-ignored list and end up frustrated about what we didn’t get done, never giving ourselves credit for what we did do. 

 

Singer-songwriter John Lennon was correct when he said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

 

Am I suggesting you abandon your priorities and throw away your To Do list? No. Keep the list, if you must. But accept that things didn’t happen. Your To Do list is written on paper, not stone. Step back and see what did happen – and give yourself some credit. Write down what you did do and cross it off the list, if that’s the only way you can see an accomplishment. 

 

Right now, why not take a few moments and consider what you have accomplished so far in 2020. Most likely, it’s more than you realize. 

I’m applauding you for the successes you’ve had so far this year – and cheering you on as we start this new month. 

TWEETABLE

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Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored nine contemporary romance novels and novellas, The Best We’ve Been, the final book in Beth’s Thatcher Sisters Series with Tyndale House Publishers, releasers May 2020. Other books in the women’s fiction series include Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, and Moments We Forget. Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.