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Today's
Meditation:
Many
people start things that they want to
accomplish--projects, novels, crafts, screenplays--but
give up long before they finish what they started.
What makes them stop? For many, it's a
question of frustration, a question of reaching some sort
of obstacle that they aren't able to get over.
Perhaps they're building a small boat of their own, and
they've broken a particular piece four times already and
they don't think they'll ever get past that point.
In my case, it has to do with sending tons of letters to
agents and publishers trying to get representation for my
novels, but receiving only rejections and having dealt
with three agents who turned out to be scam artists.
As
I write these words, I realize that no matter what has
happened so far, I often let the difficulties determine my
actions. I might have received a lot of rejections,
but Richard Bach received I think over 100 rejections
before Jonathan Livingston Seagull finally was
published. I believe the original Chicken Soup
for the Soul book was rejected 70 or more times before
it finally was published. I haven't contacted nearly
that number of agents and publishers, which means that I
still have some work to do, no?
Colonel
Sanders tried to sell his recipes to over 1,000
restaurants before someone finally bought it. He was
rejected over 1,000 times, but he still kept going strong,
often sleeping in the back of his car while he searched
for someone who would have enough foresight to purchase
what he had to sell. His mind was on his goal,
though, and there wasn't anything that could have kept him
from accomplishing that goal.
If
we acknowledge that there will be obstacles and setbacks
in anything that we undertake, it will be easier for us to
do what we need to do. When the obstacles rear their
heads, we'll be ready to deal with them. Working our
way through and around obstacles in order to fulfill our
dreams helps us to develop methods of coping with life,
helps us to develop our techniques of
problem-solving. When I read Kathleen's words and I
think of the dedication and perseverance shown by Bach,
Canfield & Hansen, and Harland Sanders, I know that I
must stick to my dreams and keep working to reach
them. If I suddenly die in a few years and still
haven't reached those dreams, at least I'll know that I
continued to try to reach them instead of giving up.
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