Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. - Psalm 23:4
Now no judgement, admit it my hip hop heads when you first read that you started to sing 2Pac's song huh?
Fear
It's something many of us posses, it's simple. Spiders, heights, falling in love, falling out of love, dying, balloons and even birds. Or what this blog is about, fear of rejection. Fear is apart of peoples lives and is the sole basis of why we do things and why we don't.
Fear is a handicap that has us in this choke-hold or quicksand to where some can't escape. There are simple things that we fear; like what I stated above i.e. spiders and so on. What about a fear of actually succeeding? Most people probably read that and thought "girl you trippin, who wouldn't want to succeed?" But read closely and take into account what it takes to actually be successful, you have to first be rejected. No one likes to hear no's, or have doors shut in their face.
Rejection will test you. You want so bad and work so hard on something. Then you get the gull to act on it and you're rejected. All of your hard work seems to be spit back in your face and deemed "not good enough". This is when most people stop.God is testing you now, is this really something you want? How hard are you willing to work? How much time are you going to spend on your knees praying? Will you get back up after being told no? The rejection phase is inevitable, it will come to all who aspire to be something and do something big. Fear cannot exist in your world, if you have a goal. It will hinder you and it will make sure you don't reach the place you desire to be.
Confession hour, I've been turned down for my first novel a couple times (103 to be exact) by literary agents. I published myself and have sold hundreds of copies just by my own reach. I now have gained the interest of an editor who I met via Twitter who wants to sign on and edit and help with ALL of my future publications. I keep pushing, and save EVERY rejection letter, whether it be for my books or a job. My rejections make me work harder, and give me more faith in God. One thing that made me keep working hard is finding out that the author of Twilight got rejected by a little over 50 agents before getting picked up; and the writer of Harry Potter got rejected by close to 100 agents, I bet those agents are kicking themselves in the ass huh?
I got rid of that fear after I got my first rejection letter. If I would've stopped Lord knows what I would be doing. Writing is my outlet, if I would've given up on that; I might as well stop being on the radio, cut all my dreams short and quit trying to get an education. For me if fear concurs one aspect of my life, it will slowly take over the other areas I'm working hard on. Remember, noting worth keeping comes easy. So tell fear to kiss your ass and keep it moving.
