Face it. Failure is part of life. But if you are a writer, failure is more painful because so often we bear it alone. We don’t want to tell our friends that our novel was rejected for the third time. We hate that the magazine editor wants a second rewrite. We hide the fact that we have another job just to pay our bills. We are Writers! Why can’t we make a go of it?
Why? Because failure is part of life. Take a look at these fine folks and tell yourself that you are in good company!
Abraham Lincoln failed to be elected as a land officer, a U.S. senator, the vice president, and again the U.S. Senate AND YET… kept trying and against all odds, became president of the United States.
Louisa May Alcott wrote out of necessity. Her family was desperately poor, and her education sketchy. She even did laundry and taught school to help support the family. She declared many of her most popular works to be emotional pap! And yet…
Winston Churchill was a poor student, but excelled in sports. Some of his war campaigns were huge mistakes. For example, his World War I attack against Turkey, the World War II defense of Norway. And yet, we remember other huge victories during World War II.
And then there is Walt Disney. We hear the name Disney now and we think success and Mickey Mouse. Most of us don’t know that Walt’s background included bankruptcy, a mental breakdown, a strike and even loss of control over some of his cartoon creations.
Harry Potter creator, J. K Rowling submitted her Harry Potter work twelve times before it was accepted. At one point, this single mom had no job, lived on welfare and thought of suicide.
And yet----everyone of these failures kept on following their passion and saw the results of perseverance. Will you do any less?
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston S. Churchill
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Brenda J. Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.
Thank you, dear Brenda, for this encouraging post. The following words spoke to me: "But if you are a writer, failure is more painful because so often we bear it alone."
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful God stays up late and rises early because I often need His comfort at these times.
Blessings as we continue to give our writing burdens to Jesus. He understands our pain. And He rejoices when we rejoice.
Thanks for the encouraging words
DeleteThank you Brenda, for writing this post. What a wonderful reminder of how God takes our failures, renews us, and, as you added: "And yet----everyone of these failures kept on following their passion and saw the results of perseverance. Will you do any less?"
ReplyDeleteIt’s not easy but essential none the less. Thank you
DeleteThanks for your post, Brenda. So many wonderful opportunities to learn from failure. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments
DeleteThe illustrious examples of these folks you mention have often inspired me in my own life. I was glad for the reminder of them in your post. Thanks, Brenda, for rallying the troops not to give up but carry on.
ReplyDeleteYes on we march together
DeleteThese are wonderful examples of never giving up! Thanks for this post Brenda!
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing us failure does not mean defeat. Perseverance is our call in the face of, "failure."
ReplyDeleteBrenda, this was a good reminder to keep trying! God bless you for your example!
ReplyDelete