The EVVY Awards are the like the Emmys but for self-published books. Several months ago I submitted my book Pink Elephants to the Colorado Independent Publishers Association for an EVVY award. I was notified that I was a finalist in the category of Parenting. This is a huge accomplishment, especially for a first time author. I was over the moon excited. “And the winner is” are the words I psyched myself up to hear. Unfortunately, my name was not the one mentioned at the end of the sentence. Pink Elephants was the recipient of the Bronze Award in the Parenting category. Slight disappointment temporarily overshadowed my anticipated joy.
Everyone wants to be a winner. I just had to change my perspective. My book is a winner, it just wasn’t exactly what the judges were looking for. I wasn’t trying to be perfect, I was trying to validate myself as a writer. Mission accomplished, with room for improvement is not a bad place to be. I will proudly accept the bronze award for my writing. (If the award were for my parenting, it might’ve been a littler harder pill to swallow. 😉 The lesson learned isn’t about where I stacked up against others. It’s about doing my best and putting myself out there.
There’s no gold, silver, or bronze award for most things in life. Most of us won’t hear our names after the words, “And the winner is…” but that doesn’t mean we haven’t given the best of ourselves. There’s always room for improvement in everything we do, and we should be proud of our efforts. Perfect is an illusion and gold is its representative color. Without silver and bronze, gold would just be another color of the rainbow. Gold can be a goal, and winners can come in different colors.
