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…

“It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it.”~W. Mitchell #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 Sylvia Stein, Susan Scott, Inderpreet Uppal, Shilpa Garg, Andrea Michaels and Damyanti Biswas.

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Meet W. Mitchell a former US Marine, San Francisco cable-car gripman, small-town mayor and now a well-respected keynote speaker. W. Mitchell has endured a great deal in his life but lives and breaths his motto: “It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you do about it.”

In 1971 he had a horrific motorcycle accident, the first of two life-altering and tragic events. While driving home he was involved in a blazing motorcycle accident leaving him to cope with devastating burns to over 65% of his body. After a painful rehabilitation, a plane crash four years later left him with a spinal injury, unable to use his legs and confined to a wheelchair.

W. Mitchell didn’t let his challenges stop him, he was determined to gain control, adapt to his new situation, and thrive. Since his accidents, he has become an internationally acclaimed mayor, responsible for saving a mountain, a successful businessman, a highly respected environmentalist, an author and an international keynote speaker. He even continued to be a commercial pilot and a whitewater rafting enthusiast. Today, through humour and compassion his message empowers others to accept challenges, embrace change and take action and is living proof that life is what you make it.

Check out W. Mitchell on YouTube:

You can also visit his website: http://www.wmitchell.com

Belinda’s Blog ~”Why So Positive?”

For those who follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you are probably aware that I try to keep my posts and tweets inspirational, humorous, and positive.  Someone recently asked me how I could be so “up” all the time.  It’s simple just because I am a happy person doesn’t mean my life is perfect it just means that I choose not to focus on the negative things in my life.  I guess the more trials I am faced with the more I realize that there are some things in life I can’t control; but what I can control is how I react to them.  I can choose to react to things in a pessimistic, fearful way, which just adds to the burden, or I can try to see the positivity and humour in a situation. Don’t get me wrong I have my moments and after 11 years, my husband knows not to bug me before my first cup of coffee in the morning (lol)but I have learned to laugh at my mistakes and realize they were just an opportunity to learn.   In the past, I had the opportunity to work with people who were ill or dying and the one thing I noticed is that some of those people were the most positive, funny, interesting people I had ever met.   They had chosen to spend their recuperation or final days focusing on the positive things, spending their time laughing, feeling inspired and living the life they felt they missed out on before their diagnosis.   I used to feel an overwhelming sadness when I would work with these people, how it “wasn’t fair” but as one of them pointed out I should see the positive and use this as a lesson on how to live now “because you never know when it will be your last day”.  This was the most valuable life lesson I have ever been taught and it is something I am learning more and more about every day!