“We regret to inform you…”
A few years ago I applied for an internship in Communications for the Disney Company. From the moment I first heard of it, I knew this was meant for me. Everything I love wrapped up together to make the perfect job. A week after my interview, I got an email that I had not been accepted. On and on it has gone. They regret it, they had an increase of applications, they felt others were more qualified. Whether it’s applying to college, trying to get a job, or getting your writing published, it’s all done with high hopes.
We know we are good enough but we hope someone else does too.
Rejection is never impersonal, not when you’re fighting for something you want. Not only is it heartbreaking but it also takes a toll on your self-esteem. And yet there is one good thing that comes from rejection. A chance to prove to ourselves that we can be successful by getting back up and trying again. Hopes and dreams make us who we are. These poets and poems remind us to never give up.
We never know how close we are to accomplishing our dreams.
Invictus
By William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
By Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
After two years of waiting, I have another chance to achieve my dream this week. I’ll be keeping my hopes up.
If I get rejected, I’ll try again. I know it’s where I’m meant to be.
Good luck to you in all your dreams and aspirations!