I live in Toronto, and our city is home to the basketball team the Toronto Raptors.
There is a delightful clip that emerged on the Internet of Raptor Serge Ibaka trekking through a winter day. This is Canada, mind you, and in late January the snow and the wind are all the more treacherous.
Beautiful two minute walk in Toronto 😂😂 ❄️❄️ pic.twitter.com/0eXzHSenIm
— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) January 28, 2019
In the 24-second clip, Ibaka is assaulted on all sides from all the wind and the snow the Great White North can muster. Ibaka is from the Congo, an African nation that sits on the Earth’s equator, where the harsh elements of winter are nary a thought in the minds of its people.
And yet, despite that, despite the seemingly unforgiving brutality of the winter day, Ibaka surprises all who watch the clip by pronouncing his APPRECIATION for his current experience. “Beautiful, baby, beautiful!”
This clip really resonates with me as a writer. There are days when I question my commitment to my craft. Thoughts creep into my head that I’m not good enough, that I’m foolish to attempt my dream at writing a novel.
We can be battered at all sides with negative thoughts and feelings, not unlike the weather which battered the 6-foot-10 power forward. We can choose to succumb to the wills of our environment, let it dictate our mood and become miserable, a victim to our circumstances.
OR…we can rise above the unpleasantness. We can look at the bleak outlook and, like Serge Ibaka, choose to voice our gratitude in the face of adversity.
I have long way to go as a writer. But I’m grateful for every moment of it. So the next time you feel a dark cloud of negativity consume you, think back to Serge, and find the positive in your writing journey the way he finds joy in a blistery January day in Toronto.
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Sylvie Soul is a recovering fanfiction writer on the path to writing her first novel. When not deliberating over plot holes and negotiating extra-lean word counts, she hopes to use her years of experience teaching other aspiring writers to follow their dreams and pursue their writing journey. Check out Sylvie’s Twitter page or visit her website at sylviesoul.com.