Motivation to Keep Going
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
What gets you out of bed on a lazy, rainy morning to brave a day of errands? What keeps you going when nothing you’ve planned is working? When your kids are defiant and your spouse just doesn’t ‘get you’ and you’re friends, well, are only online?
How about when your dreams are crushed, and you’ve received that last writing rejection and just want to quit?
If you’ve been following my writing journey for any part of these last seven years, you know it’s been an up hill battle for me. I write and study and attend writer’s conferences and write some more and get rejections. Then I start the process all over again. But what keeps me writing even when I say for the millionth time I’m going to quit are the little encouragements along the way.
A kind word from a friend, whether in person or on Facebook, a bible reading that connects with your soul, or an encouraging rejection. Yes, in rejection we can find that little push we need to keep going. We just need to look past our hurts and hear what an editor or contest judge is really saying.
And then be brave enough to accept the truth and stubborn enough not to let it crush our dreams.
A little bit of encouragement along the way helps us move forward, but sometimes you have to look hard. So look hard, keep pushing, and pay it forward. Your encouragement to others just might be the thing that keeps someone else from quitting!
