Overcoming Failure #WATWB

Welcome to the “We are the World Blogfest” (#WATWB ). The #WATWB was inspired by a simple conversation about how all the negativity on social media was weighing on us. Wanting to make a difference we decided to try to do our part to infuse social media with all the good stories that are out there. We hope to share the stories that show kindness, compassion, hope, overcoming challenges and in general, the impressive resilience of the human spirit. For every dark, negative story out there, there is a positive, heartwarming story that will add some light and lift the human spirit. The last Friday of every month bloggers will share their stories led by five co-hosts, this month’s co-hosts are Shilpa Garg, Simon Falk, Damyanti Biswas, Lizbeth Hartz  and Eric Lahti.

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Life is all about learning, growing often facing failure and adversity along the way. For many we give up, abandon or avoid following our dreams because we are scared to fail. As a writer, I have to admit I have done this too. I have actually destroyed manuscripts in haste because of rejection or self doubt. I have given up on more than one occasion for reasons ranging from not having enough time, to health issues which in all honesty weren’t as much reasons as excuses.   Yet each time I have given up or failed, I have picked myself up, dusted myself off and have tried again, possibly because I am stubborn but more simply because I love writing. 

On one of my “giving up” phases someone once mentioned a quote that was blunt, but rung true:
‘If you’re not failing, you’re probably not trying as hard as you could be’ ~ George Church (Harvard)

I am not the first writer to face rejection and I won’t be the last Stephen King’s first novel “Carrie” was rejected something like 30 times before it was accepted. King gave up and threw his first book in the trash. His wife, Tabitha, retrieved the manuscript and encouraged King to finish it. Now, King’s books have sold somewhere in the neighborhood of over 350 million copies, he’s become a household name, with almost every book making various best-seller’s lists not to mention  many have been turned into major blockbuster movies and television series.
No matter what your dreams are I can pretty much guarantee that someone who is a role model in that field has failed and had to overcome adversity multiple times. Check out this infographic from www.invaluable.com for more inspiration…