The temptation to give up is a common one, and nobody is exempt. For most of us, failure isn’t something we can handle gracefully. And even though we know it’s a common human condition, we’re somehow always surprised when it happens to us. A few famous quotes that I have tacked on my wall remind me that loss of hope is temporary and giving up is not an option in my life:
1. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow.”
~Mary Anne Radmacher~
2. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
~Thomas Edison~
3. “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
~Henry Ford~
4. “Ask yourself this question: ‘Will this matter a year from now?'”
~Richard Carlson~ (American psychotherapist and author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff)
5. “As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better.”
~Dr. Steve Maraboli~
6. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
~Newt Gingrich~
7. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
~Dale Carnegie~
8. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
~Nelson Mandela~
~Abraham Lincoln~
9. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
~Winston Churchill~
I don’t know about you. But when things seem to be difficult and the dream seems more impossible than it did a year ago, the fact that these well-known people persevered and influenced so many generations encourages me to keep going. We all tend to have short term memory loss when we face struggles. I have learnt to keep journals of God’s faithfulness because they have often been all I have to hold on to when the next hurdle looms. If He said it, He will do it. His timing is simply not the same as my own and as I put my foot forward another step, I know that He will fulfil all that He has said He will. This to me is success – to persevere through the seemingly impossible, only to discover that miracles are waiting within reach.
Janine Epere
CEO Destiny Haven