About this time last year I wrote a book. And for just about a year, I haven't been able to say the actual words "I wrote a book". I would say things like "I wrote a 'kind of' book" or "I wrote a mini-book" but I struggled to accept and believe my writing project accomplishment.
I rationalized this by the size and type of my book. 'It's just a small book' I would say to myself. Or I would compare it to the "other books" out there and feel mine didn't measure up. But I heard something recently that has stuck out to me:
"If a doctor finishes last in his class, what is he? He's still a doctor"
Likewise, if I wrote a book that is smaller than other books, what is it? It's still a book.
Sometimes, I need to break things down before I can understand and believe it fully. So Naturally, when I realized I was struggling to accept my 'book', I looked up the definition and here is what I found:
Book: a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
And by that definition, I have a book folks. Not that any of you needed convincing.
As I have flipped this around in my mind over and over, I have realized that the amount of pages in my book didn't make it small...it was my belief that was making my book small. No one else, not a single person was saying "oh it's not really a book"-only I was saying that. On the contrary, people were celebrating my success and accomplishment.
How often do we do that to ourselves? We accomplish some big feat and then downplay and minimize it. We take our victory and squash the joy of that victory by preparing in advance for rejection or failure that may or may not come.
We say things like "oh that wasn't a big deal" or "well it might not work out so I'm not going to get my hopes up" or "it's not really a _____, it's just a kinda ____."
But what if you just enjoyed your victory? What if you celebrated your success rather than confessing a perceived defeat? What if you said things like:
"I worked really hard on that project and I'm proud of myself for seeing it through!"
"I did it! I set that goal of ____ and I accomplished it"
"I'm kind of a big deal, I just did that!"
Girl, brag on yourself a little. Humility doesn't mean hiding your strengths, it means embracing and celebrating God in them.
So, what do you need to brag about today? What do you need to celebrate in your life? I encourage you to celebrate your victory, take yourself to dinner, invite a friend, throw yourself a party (social distancing encouraged) or find some way to celebrate your success. I promise you, Jesus is celebrating with you.