"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are."
— Tobias Wolff
American Author
1945 -
The difference between the winners and the losers is that the winners keep going long after the losers have quit. Many people want to be writers, painters, musicians, and actors. Most quit too soon. They let rejection and negative criticism cause them to give-up. The creative journey takes a lot of stamina and persistence.
In 1914, Thomas Edison was 67 years old. He had lived a lifetime and invented hundreds of gadgets including the light bulb. He was a multi-millionaire living in Menlo Park, New Jersery. One night in February 1914 his phonograph factory burnt to the ground. Overnight he lost more than 3 million dollars and he had no insurance. The next day he was walking through his burnout factory and his son came over to console him. Edison turned to his son and he said: "There is great value in disaster. It burns up all our mistakes. Thank God we can start anew." He redesigned the phonograph, rebuild the factory and gave the world a brand new phonograph within three months. I don't care what challenges you face today or what is preventing you from continuing your creative journey. The difference between the winners and the losers is the winners keep going long after the losers have quit.
