Rejection

Rejection is just another step on the road to success.

When I was eighteen, my summer job was selling Fuller Brush as a door-to-door salesperson. At that time a reorganization of their selling structure in the area meant that I had the wonderful opportunity to sell in many different areas of the city.

On one particularly disappointing day when all I seemed to get was rejection, my manager told me, "Remember: You're going to sell something every three houses. Count them and see. Each 'no' is just a step closer to a sale."

All that summer I kept count and found out that he was right. And throughout my life I found that lots of things are like that. Often success is just trying long enough or being at bat enough to get that hit and succeed.

I did ask my manager what is the difference between a good salesman and an excellent one. His answer: the size of the sale.

For writing submissions the number I'm guessing is five hundred rejections. That's why I'm celebrating. For these two stories, I'm already one step, one rejection closer to getting published. Maybe only a baby step, but I'll be running soon.