It is graduation time. A time filled with excitement, anticipation, and, perhaps, a bit of fear of the unknown.
Every day can be a graduation time for each of us. When we do something better than we did before, we have graduated. When we accomplish a difficult task, we have graduated. When we conquer a destructive habit, we have graduated.
One of my favorite quotes is "Fail. Try again. Fail better." Failing better is a type of graduation as well. When I first started writing, I collected hundreds, if not thousands, of rejection notices, form letters without an editor's signature. Within several years, I started receiving personal rejections, occasionally accompanied by a personal note from the editor encouraging me to try again.
I was still being rejected, but I had graduated to a better kind of rejection. Then it happened: a sale. One sale turned into two, two into three, and so on. My writing still garners more than its share of rejections, but I have enough acceptances under my belt that I keep trying.
Graduating from high school requires hard work, discipline, and more hard work. Graduating every day requires the same: hard work and discipline. When we look for opportunities to do something better, to face a challenge, to develop a new skill or talent, we have graduated.
So, for today, I am grateful for graduations.
I love that quote, "Fail. Try again. Fail better." Who said that? It's so much more true to life than the idea that you will succeed after you fail if you only try one more time.
ReplyDeleteWhoever said that understood the blessings of failing repeatedly.