never give up

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You know that feeling.  The sinking feeling when you realize its not going to work.  You hear the "no" in the conversation and you realize that all of your efforts were in vain.  

That's the moment most of us give up, lick our wounds and decide that we won't reach quite so far next time.

Its a human, knee-jerk reaction.  

But.  

Sometimes there is more inside of us.  A deep pocket, way in the back, that we haven't accessed before.  We've never had to got there, and we never would have, were it not for this frustrating situation.  

This is something I have learned from my husband.  No matter how many times he hears no, or it can't be done, or it's impossible... all he hears is:  you haven't figured it out yet- back to the drawing board. 

I admire this quality in him, and I am trying to develop it further in myself.  These are the moments that force us to grow.  Sometimes we fight it... we aren't ready for change, its hard, you have no support or you are just tired of the fight.  Tired of the continued efforts that only amount to banging up against another wall.  

At that moment in time, you are in good company. 

Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth."

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To be great, you must find the ability to continue against all odds.  

Winston Churchill was defeated in every election until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62.  SIXTY TWO. 

He later said,

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up." 

Thomas Edison's teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.  It took him 1000 different attempts to perfect the lighbulb.  What if he would have stopped before the 1000th attempt??

Einstein was told he was "mentally slow" and was even expelled from school.

Henry Ford failed and was broke 5 times before he was succesful.

R.H. Macy failed 7 times before his store finally caught on. 

Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson accounted for 11 of the 19 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1993. They also share the distinction of having the worst records of first-season head coaches in NFL history - they didn't win a single game.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.

The first time Jerry Seinfeld walked on-stage at a comedy club as a professional comic, he looked out at the audience, froze, and forgot the English language. He stumbled through "a minute-and a half" of material and was jeered offstage. He returned the following night and closed his set to wild applause.



After Harrison Ford's first performance as a hotel bellhop in the film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, the studio vice-president called him in to his office. "Sit down kid," the studio head said, "I want to tell you a story. The first time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie he delivered a bag of groceries. We took one look at him and knew he was a movie star." Ford replied, "I thought you were spossed to think that he was a grocery delivery boy." The vice president dismissed Ford with "You ain't got it kid , you ain't got it ... now get out of here."
Decca Records turned down a recording contract with the Beatles with the unprophetic evaluation, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out." After Decca rejected the Beatles, Columbia records followed suit.
 In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis Presley after one performance. He told Presley, "You ain't goin' nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck."

 21 publishers rejected Richard Hooker's humorous war novel, M*A*S*H. He had worked on it for seven years.

"Only those who dare to fall greatly can achieve greatly." 
Robert F. Kennedy

"Everything will be ok in the end. 

 If it is not ok yet, 

it is not the end." 

Unknown

So, dig deeper.  


Try again.  


Don't take no for an answer.  


Go and  be great.  


It's what you are meant to do.