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"I was not delivered unto this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny. I will persist until I succeed.”

- Og Mandino

What do you when the one thing that you love with all of your heart – that thing you're oh so passionate about – doesn't love you back?

It's the thing that once drove you. You constantly desired it. It's what you fervently chased after, day in and day out.

You sacrificed time, effort, energy and money for it. You bet on it and put all of your eggs into its basket. You invested all of yourself into it only to have it blow up in your face.

What did you do when your first love broke your heart?

I've seen too many people give up on the things they were once passionate about. Their conversations go something like, "Yeah I remember that," or "Back in the day, I used to...".

If you look close enough, you can see a glimmer of reminiscence. A spark of gleeful hope. A momentary reminder that this person once did something that gave them life.

But somewhere, some way, and some how along the line, they stopped doing what they loved. They became Rocky Jr. in Rocky Balboa:

 

It hurts you to acknowledge that this might've been you. It's even more painful to realize that maybe you didn't really love that thing you thought you did. You sometimes think "Hey, if it came so easily, maybe that's why it just as easily slipped away, right?"

Wrong.

You got cold feed. Your own potential scared you, and you let the love flutter away. But the thing about love is when it is real, it never dies. True love always comes back.

And when there is love in your passion, there is no limit.

When it comes to blindly and relentlessly moving towards your goal every single day, there is no limit to your love.

When it comes to beating on your craft until your hands, eyes, nose and ears bleed, there is no limit to your love. 

When it comes to waking up early and going to bed late because you're completely sold out to your vision, there is no limit to your love.

So what happened?

Oh, right. You got hurt.

I've heard many people talk about how in love they used to be. They got rejected or didn't get something as fast as they thought they would.

They put a cap on their potential and a limit to their passion.

I get it. When that happens, it's not easy to stay encouraged to love or try again. It’s hard to persist until you succeed, especially when it seems like everything and everyone (including yourself) is working against you.

But I have news for you.

Sometimes you’ve got to take a loss to be a boss.

You've got to take two steps forward for every one step back. You’ve got to find a way to keep going, motivate yourself and keep that ignited fire going. You’ve got to find a way to get back to your first love.

 Yes you will stumble. Yes may even fall flat on your face a second, third, or fourth time.. But victory is not for the one who gives up. It is for the one who persists until they succeed. You are a lion. Let them hear your roar. Find your love and harness that. Feed that love until it pours out on everyone around you.

Persist until you succeed. Love like you’ve never been heartbroken before. 

Smash open that glass ceiling and #GETAFTERIT. 

- JH

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