Rejection

The email from my Publicist simply said:  “We did get a first rejection.  They liked the concept and proposal but they had concerns about your not having a big platform.  Don’t fret.  I’m moving on.”

The voice message came later as she was concerned about how I would take this news.  I have been working on a book proposal for the past year and a half and I was now being read in the hopes of getting a book publishing deal.  This would be my first book.  And it is on a subject that I am NOT degreed in.

The interesting thing is I took the news quite well.  One of the largest Literary Agencies in New York read, considered and commented on my work.  To say this is surreal is an understatement.

Now, back to the word ‘rejection’.  This made me think about young mothers trying to get their toddlers into the best pre-schools.  Aspiring actresses and actors going on cattle calls.  Young men applying for the armed services, young adults trying to get admitted to the college of their choice and on the list goes.

Life does not guarantee results.  It just guarantees choices and opportunities.  When faced with rejection, do you blame the universe?  Do you retreat into the corner?  Do you give up the goal?  Or do you dust yourself off, regroup and go back out there?

Me?  I truly am here for the journey.  I truly do believe there is a reason for everything that happens.  And, I am truly grateful for the life I have been given.

Of course, if the rejection list hits 100, I may find myself under covers with a pint of ice cream, a box of Sees Chocolates and an extremely grumpy face.

Awareness

I needed to get cash and was going to the local convenience store to use their ATM.  There was a young mother pushing a stroller with her infant daughter with two young sons by her side.  She instructed the older of the two boys who looked to be around 6 to hold open the door and keep it open with his foot while she entered the store.  She helped him to open the door, as it was heavy.  She looked at me as I was approaching and said, “I’m teaching my son to be a gentlemen.”

After we all entered the store his mother thanked him, and so did I.  He seemed pleased with himself.

When I was leaving the store a few minutes later a middle-aged man was entering.  He held the door open for what appeared to be his wife and was continuing to do so for me when a young lady around 16 cut me and the man’s wife off while she scooted ahead.  Neither a word nor an acknowledgement to any of us.

This really made me think about what we are teaching the next generation about common manners and awareness of those around us.

Clearly some are doing a good job however more clearly some need to step up!

Youth

They say that, “Youth is wasted on the young.”  I don’t believe that.  Young is a great time in our lives.  We think we will live forever, so we live without regret.  We think we are immortal, so we live full-throttle.  We don’t consider that one day we will be limited in movement and thought, so we race through our days like they will last forever.

The sign read, “What age would you be, if you didn’t know what age you were?”   I was meeting a friend in the Montrose area to have lunch and walk around the farmer’s market.  I came across a fun card and bookstore.  The wall was filled with all sorts of funny and inspirational signs.  This one, however, stayed in my mind.

I tend to reflect about age, accomplishments and what I still want to do.  I tend to do this right around my birthday.  This year doesn’t seem to be any different.

Without much thought, I probably would have said I would be 25 if I didn’t know how old I was.  However, the truth is I am much wiser, more patient, and much more open-minded then I was at that age.  We get a certain amount of time to be very young, young, middle age, and then if we are very lucky, elderly.

If we are really smart, we will embrace all the stages of our life and live each to the very best we can.

It's Easier For You

Is this really true, or does it just seem that way? 

A diabetic friend once told me it was easier for me to resist the box of cookies, because I didn’t eat them all up.

This is NOT true.  I chose not to polish off the box.  Easy?  Well, not in the equation.  It was simply a choice.

Why does it appear that things are easier for others just because they do it?

We all make decisions how we spend our money, our time and our efforts.  We all pick and choose what is more important to us at that time.  Bag of M & M’s or a lower weight.  Impulse buying, or saving our money.

It is the wonderful thing about living in a free-society, we have freedom of choice.

Instead of looking at the next guy and judging his choices, I like my 9 year-old grandson’s advice. He told me when he was just six and I wanted him to try yet another vegetable, “Grandma, please mind your own plate.”

From the mouth of babes!