Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about failure.  And success.  And what exactly those two things mean to me.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the big dreams.

I touched on this topic a bit in my last post on Stratejoy.  When I wrote that post, I was feeling pretty good, ready for whatever was to come my way.  My book was coming along, and I was sure whatever happened in the future and with my career would be perfectly fine.

And then I read a blog post by a literary agent that basically said — don’t quit your day job.  95% of writers never make a living on their writing alone.

My first thought was, “Yep.  Now tell me something I don’t know.”  But then the words in the article took on a life of their own in my mind.  I started to worry.  I felt defeated.  And I cried.

Sometimes life kicks your ass.  Yesterday was that day for me.

Today, I’m over it.  I woke up feeling positive and ready to write.  Here’s something I’ve learned over the past few months:  When you’re chasing a dream, a possibility, there are days when you’ll feel there’s no chance in hell you’re going to make it.  But if you give up before even trying, you can be guaranteed you won’t achieve that dream.  You just have to get out there and do it, no matter the odds.

I keep this quote by Layne Beachley hanging on my refrigerator as inspiration to keep at it:

Yesterday, I stumbled on this video of a commencement speech J.K. Rowling made at Harvard.  In it, she talked about failure and imagination.  She said that failure was what pushed her to focus on the one thing that really mattered to her (writing Harry Potter).  It’s a great speech.  Check it out for some inspiration for your day.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

photo credit: ilmungo