I reached up to the bar, lifted my feet up and off, lowered myself to the ground
– and did my little happy Snoopy dance.
128 days ago, I got off a trapeze with no idea as to when I’d be able to get back up there again.
Yesterday morning, I rigged my shiny new trapeze – the birthday gift my wonderful husband gave me back at the end of March, 4,380 years ago – and hung upside down from my feet.
I wasn’t sure I’d still be able to do it.
I wasn’t sure I’d still be able to do anything.
But I could – and I did.
Two hours and a bunch of barrel rolls and forward and backward rolls later, I was bruised and tired and happy.
Turns out, my body hadn’t forgotten how to move on a trapeze at all, and my mind had nothing to worry about.
Sure, everything was much harder than it was 128 days ago. My fitness has seeped away. Some of my strength has oozed out of my muscles.
But I could do all the moves I wanted to do and I enjoyed myself.
That, my friend, is the power of habit, of deep practice, and consistency.
The only reason I could get back on that trapeze and knock out some of my favourite moves after 128 days on the ground is all the months and years of hard work I put in before lockdown hit.
This isn’t just true for trapeze, or physical movement. It’s true for language learning, musical instruments, painting, writing, maths, engineering – anything even remotely creative.
Sure, we’ll be rusty.
Absolutely, it’ll be hard work to get back to where we were.
And it will probably be painful and frustrating and times.
But it’s perfectly possible.
All those times you have to drag yourself to your keyboard or your musical instrument or the gym – they’re worth it. They’ll pay off when you need to pull something out of the bag in future.
If you want to become a good writer and communicator, practice. Do the work. Every day.
Remember: this is something you GET to do. It’s brilliant.
You don’t have to do it.
You have the joy and privilege of being able to choose to do it because ultimately, it brings joy.
Have a wonderful Sunday doing something that fills your soul to the brim.
p.s. and if you’d like to set a regular time to practice your writing with a group of really amazing people (seriously, I’m so lucky to have this group of magnificent humans in my life), pop along to the Power Hour. It’s only £1 for the first 7 days. Try it here.
p.p.s. if you’d like to see what I got up to, you can hop over to my personal Instagram account here and find out…
Start Writing Your Book Today
If you want to learn more about how to write, self-publish, and market a book for your business, snaffle yourself a copy of How The Hell Do You Write A Book? Then check out the blog and podcast for more articles and guides. If you want a little (or a lot) more help, find out how you can work with me.
About Vicky…
Vicky Fraser is the founder of Moxie Books and author of How The Hell Do You Write A Book and Business For Superheroes. She helps business owners write life-changing books, connect with readers and new customers, and grow their businesses. When she’s not doing that, she’s hanging from a trapeze by her feet.
