“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

It is interesting when I talk to people about my work and they ask me whether or not it is temporary. That was the original plan, you see, but now I don’t know. What can become frustrating though is when people don’t understand the efforts you are putting towards trying to change your situation. They don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. To give you a picture of my current ‘behind the scenes’ experience, I received yet another rejection email this week for the umpteenth time and still sent off two new applications while I have a half-completed one also in the works. So, why do I keep going? I guess it’s because somewhere inside I still have a little spark of hope left, but I think it also has to do with the resilience of the human spirit.

Have you ever stopped to reflect on the amazing capacity humans have to bounce back from times of struggle? At so many points in our lives we experience rejection, heartbreak, disappointment, grief and yet we continue to move forward despite it all. We persist through the difficult times until the ‘season changes’ and we find our joy again. Sure, while we are in the midst of trying times we probably don’t feel like we’re being strong or building our resilience, but when we come out of the other side we can often see how much our character has developed. This encouraging truth is what I’m holding on to, and it is what gives me the hope and strength to keep moving forward. So, have you, like me, experienced failure lately? I urge you to have courage and keep failing until your victory moment arrives.