Success only flourishes in perseverance -- ceaseless, restless perseverance.
--Baron Manfred Von Richtofen

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Undaunted

Here's my husband putting up garden supports in defiance of six inches of new snow in the garden. On April 4. Why is he so undaunted? Probably because he knows the snow won't last forever, the weather will warm up, and his garden will be just fabulous. (You can read about it at his gardening blog.)

When it comes to writing, I've been feeling daunted lately, along with other unpleasant "D" words like doubtful, despairing, and depressed. I've been getting rejection letters at an unprecedented rate. I think that's because I've been submitting at an unprecedented rate, but it's still got me down. If you remember my first post, last fall I was really on fire. I felt certain that writing was part of God's plan for me. But with all the setbacks lately, I'm starting to doubt if that is really the case. But then I remembered what a wise friend taught me. You can't judge whether you are doing the right thing by how easy it is or how well everything is going. I mean, did I really expect that there wouldn't be any more rejection? That I'd instantly become a best-selling author? Okay, whatever. Does Tracy think a little snow means he'll never grow a garden? I don't think so. I'm trying to remember that just because things aren't going as great as I'd like doesn't mean I should just give up. Right?

Well, I hope I'm right, because I really don't want to quit, and I do believe that the things I felt last fall are still true, and that God is with me, no matter what. Thanks for the little reminder, Tracy.