My first NANOWRIMO I won and was very proud. It kickstarted my desire to write and gave me an amazing vehicle to meet an incredibly diverse set of wonderful friends. Fellow writers, if you will. I learned a lot in the last year.
I learned how to self-publish a book.
I learned how to survive being temporarily homeless.
I learned what’s important and what I’m willing to sacrifice for.
But I didn’t learn a very valuable lesson this last year. Until now.
This last month I learned a hugely valuable lesson that I needed to learn.
I learned how to lose at something you love to do.
I didn’t finish the 50,000 word challenge this year. I don’t get the t-shirt.
But most of all, I don’t get the bragging rights.
That hurts. It hurts a lot.
You see, I’ve been on this discovery mission, this last year, and I thought I was doing pretty damned good. I have lots of accomplishments to claim. I guess you could say, I got cocky, sort of. I didn’t know I was cocky. But I guess I was.
See, there is a difference between confident and cocky. Confident, you know you can do it. Cocky, you think you can do it.
Confident is having the street cred to back up your demeanor. Cocky is blowing the horn before the last lap is run.
I thought I was confident. It turns out, I was cocky.
NANOWRIMO taught me that to be confident, you have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears.
You have to do it, even when no one is watching. That’s confidence.
So I lost NANOWRIMO, but in the end, I think I am a winner. Because the lesson is now learned. Once you see something, you can’t unsee it.
My confidence is back. I won’t let it get buried, again.
What did you do? Did you win NANO? what lesson did you learn from this last month?
Don't open that door! 