Rejection, Rejection, Rejection

Guest post by Beth Ann Farley

Eight months ago I felt this strong tug to leave my cushy full time job to start writing from home. It Was December 2012 when I stepped down from full time employment to part time at a busy public library. It was no easy task.

Six months after my decision, I became ill. I went from doctor to doctor, had test after test performed and was finally diagnosed with a kidney disease. God’s calling for me to write became a huge challenge, one of which I cried many times over the keyboard. After all, didn’t He know how sick I was? Didn’t He know I had bills to pay? I was petrified.

I remember the first day sitting at my computer in ready-set-go mode with swollen ankles and cramping fingers. I didn’t feel well but I began to write. I started with learning how to put together a small blog; then a friend of mine got me in touch with someone who got me in touch with someone else and that became a domino effect. I’ve now written book reviews, interviewed authors, and have written published articles. However, I’ve received many rejections along the way. I continue to write through the stuffy noses, cramping fingers, various aches and pains and the REJECTIONS.

What do I do when another rejection shoots across my computer screen? First, I walk away and get some fresh air and think about the goodness in myself. I can easily start to reject myself and that’s not what writing is all about. The other thing I do is I get into my prayer closet, (anyplace that I can be alone with God) and I rest in the fact that He has called me to this and He will pave the way. I will tell you what I don’t do; I don’t give up or lose hope. I am a confident woman who has accepted the calling through the affliction of illness. I am, we all are, survivors of rejection. It’s part of a writer’s makeup. In my opinion, rejection makes us better writers.

Beth Ann Farley lives in Kansas City, MO with her husband and six grown children and 13 grandchildren. She writes for bookfun.org; Too’n town magazine and the Mid-Continent Public Library. She has also been published with Landline magazine & Teachers In Focus. Her poetry has been published in Sweet Freedom written by Jennifer Slattery. She also co-hosts, with four other ladies, Living by Grace, a faith-based Facebook community. Visit her online at: http://firsthalfday1.wordpress.com.