To aspire is to yearn to climb until a plateau is reached. We take a deep breath and gaze out into the distance. In those surreal moments that follow, we should take a moment to understand what it took to reach that achievement.
To reach our desired goal is a struggle, a good versus evil match in which we need to make the best decisions possible along the way, but we must roll up our sleeves and work our asses off to be successful.
I've been doing just that: working my ass off.
We've all heard that kind of story. Person works job, finds time for family, squeezes in an education with tons of homework/research. It's all work and no play. Then, voila!, you reach your desired goal. Victory!
Life doesn't make things simple, and it isn't fair. Life knows that, and it really doesn't care. But we do, and because of that, we must keep struggling and keep working so we can keep winning the game of life. Eventually, we will reach those mountaintops where we can take that calming breath, look back at what it took to get here, and appreciate our accomplishments.
For me, I've written a novel and, for the second time this year, have peddled it to literary agents. I still have work to do, still have some climbing to do, but I know I will reach the top. My confidence never wavers.
I submitted my novel to 6 agents so far. 1 responded. A rejection. My foot slips from its foothold, but I don't fall. I've come too far. I've climbed too high. I'm not a quitter. This will not dissuade me. I reach for another handhold and pull myself up, elevating myself a little higher, a little closer to the plateau. I wonder what the view is like from up there. All it takes is one, I remind myself. One to say I was good enough to be published.
A homonymic thought strikes me. Causes me to pause. Won equals one. Think about it. All it takes is one agent to say yes, then I've won.
Won equals one. I like that.
The thought is fleeting, but it stokes the fire in my belly. Can't stop now. Got to keep climbing. Got to keep working. Got to get stronger. When I reach that plateau, catch my breath, and drink in my accomplishment, another mountain and another climb and another challenge will be waiting. The math may change. Won equals two. But it starts with one. All anyone needs is one.
I take a moment to chalk up my hands, feel around above me for a crack in the rock, and ascend a little higher.
