Yesterday, I got my first rejection letter for a short story that I submitted for publication. It might seem weird, but I am so happy to have received my first rejection. I would love to be published, but I know that I am going to be rejected several times before I actually get published. If getting published were really easy, then it wouldn’t feel like a big accomplishment when it does happen. I am going to have to have a few failures, before I have success, if I ever have success. To be honest, for me, I would love to share my writing with others, but the journey of writing has been so much fun and entertaining that I really don’t mind if I do succeed. The meaning isn’t in the end result, but it is in the journey. I have learned so much about myself and my faith in this journey that it really doesn’t matter anymore what happens because I know that it will be worth what I have put into it.
I wrote to my mentor today and told him about my rejection. I told him that now that I have been rejected, I know I’ll be okay. I can submit more writing and get rejected more. I know that the world won’t end and it won’t change the fact that I am a writer. This rejection can’t define me. It is just a part of life.
That makes me reconsider a lot about life. I look at many experiences as either being good or bad. Events that I look forward to or events that I need to endure, but what if those events are neither good nor bad? What if they are just part of my path? I am the one who decides that they are good or bad. I’m the one who shapes my reality and makes it more difficult. When I struggle, maybe I just need to let life be and realize that the more I try to fight life, the more difficult it is going to be. However, if I realize it is all part of this amazing journey that God has given me, then maybe, just maybe, I can find a way to enjoy all the miracles that life has to offer.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
