Back to Square One

My Week #29 Submission

Y’all, I’m having so much fun with these ChatGPT images🤣

Athletes do it all the time — Back to Square One. “Have a short memory,” they say.

We too, can take advantage of this tool at any time. When things begin to get a little wonky, just stop. And begin again.

I talked about Kirby Smart’s mantra to, Keep Choppin, over on my blog recently. Here’s Kirby’s quote from that essay.

“Play every play in the game like it has a history and life of its own,” could just as easily be, “Back to Square One.”

Coach Smart is telling his players, and us, that you have to start each play with a clean slate. He’s saying that you can’t let what happened in the last moment, hurt how you respond in the next moment.

“Don’t dwell on the past, and don’t look ahead.” Back to Square One. Focus only on the task at hand. “If you do that, then good things will come of it.”

Now that I think of it, I’ve had to go Back to Square One numerous times recently — while working to publish Hank Cotton’s book, The Ugly Duckling. Oh my goodness, you all have no freaking idea how many times I had to start over on the cover art. Heck, I don’t even have any idea how many times it was! But I know that getting Back to Square One, was what eventually got it done.

Sometimes it’s just easier to start over, empty the bin, and get Back to Square One.

Actually, I’m usually better at everything the second time around anyway. But I have to keep what Kirby said in mind, too — just starting over isn’t good enough. I must drop all of my opinions on the previous play, before I can truly get Back to Square One. Only then will I be able to see that old situation as a completely new one — allowing me the opportunity to change my perspective.

We shouldn’t be afraid to go Back to Square One. Because once we get there, we might just find that we have a better handle on the situation than we thought. And sometimes, even a clear path ahead.

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Thanks for reading! I Hope this’ll inspire you to make your own submission to this week’s writing prompt, Back to Square One, Ian Thomas.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it and clicking that ❤ button, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. When was one time that starting over was the quickest solution for you?

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Ha, I just realized I quoted and linked Keep Choppin in last week’s submission too!