We All Fall

Twenty-four years ago, I experienced one of the most embarrassing moments of my life: I fell off the commode in the hospital.

When it happened, I had two choices: stay down or get up. After trying to get up on my own, I fell again. That moment is etched in my memory until I die. It is my motivation to keep pressing on.

I shouldn’t have been surprised I fell. It was only two weeks since I had part of my brain removed and only one week since I woke up from a coma. My body was weak, although my determination was on overload.

My doctors and therapists had already warned me about the difficulties and what I needed to work on, but I knew better and did things my way—the hard way. I still learned a lot during that time:

• Keep learning.
• Get stronger.
• Stay motivated to not give up.

My reaction and history of rejection helped prepare me for disappointment. One of my early writing mentors Jerry B. Jenkins has a saying, “Writers need a thick skin.” Because the writing life can be full of disappointment and rejection. Writers must learn to take constructive criticism and not give up but get better—be prepared for the fall.

The Fall!

Nothing sucks the life out of a writer more than spending hours on the computer pouring their hearts out and creating their masterpiece, only to face rejection. It is human nature to fear rejection, failure, and falling.

The thought can trigger a fight or flight reaction that sends most writers into a panic. That’s when most writers make careless mistakes that will harm their careers. The fear of falling can sometimes do more harm than the actual fall.

By trying to avoid rejection and pain, writers can often miss opportunities to grow or achieve publication. When our dreams of overnight success are not fulfilled, our instincts kick in and many abandon their passions altogether.

The ones who make it are the ones who fall, face failure, and learn from the rejection. I enjoy hearing stories of successful writers who keep rejection letters to motivate them to keep going. Below are a few quotes I found to help writers deal with rejection:

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career, that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hide.

Harper Lee

Was I bitter? Absolutely. Hurt? You bet your sweet ass I was hurt. Who doesn’t feel a part of their heart break at rejection? You ask yourself every question you can think of, what, why, how come, and then your sadness turns to anger. That’s my favorite part. It drives me, feeds me, and makes one hell of a story.

Jennifer Salaiz

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.

Anita Diamant

Rejected pieces aren’t failures; unwritten pieces are.

Greg Daugherty

Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil –but there is no way around them.

Isaac Asimov

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success -but only if you persist.

Isaac Asimov

I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.

Sylvia Plath

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.

Ray Bradbury

When I work with brain injury survivors or disabled persons, we often share our stories of recovery. We know it’s not a matter of if you will fall, but when you will fall—and what you do afterward. The choice is yours!

Make Your Choice!

We all have two options when we fall and you don’t have to have a perfect brain to know what they are—stay down our get up. Over the past 24 years, I have fallen more times than I care to admit, some publicly but most privately.

Sometimes I cry and sometimes I laugh, but in the end, I always get up and learn from my circumstances. It has shaped my perspective on life. Grieving what is lost keeps us from making the most of what we have.

This is true of the writing life, with each rejection or missed opportunity, writers can either wallow in self-pity or learn from the experience. Grow in the craft and carry on, or stay down.

I’ve seen disabled persons and writers throw in the towel and never reach their potential because they made the wrong choice. But the writers who succeed and achieve publication are the ones who tough it out and learn from their disappointments. I like to tell people a few things to keep in mind about disappointment:

• Be willing to fight.
• Be ready.
• Be prepared.
• Don’t be defeated.

Life is hard, it will knock you down, but we don’t have to stay down when we fall down.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.