I have failed more times than I can remember. But a failure that stings is my writing my Ahab’s Daughter book. I woke up early writing before work, struggled to get the funds together to have the cover made, and then launched the book, and it flopped.

I received positive reviews on the book, but my launch and marketing fell flat. I launched a new series out to the world, and no one seemed to care.

The hours upon hours of work that I put into the book went seemingly down the drain.

When we fail, we can throw our hands up in disgust and give up, or we can learn from our mistakes and get up and try again.

Maybe you’ve had a failed relationship, just got divorced, are estranged from your kids, lost your job, or had a major medical setback—the question is: What are you going to do now?

I waited for many years for others to validate me as a writer. I wanted people to run to me with open arms to publish my books and got rejected time and time again. I questioned whether I should give up writing.

I used to joke with my wife and tell her that I could get a minimum wage job on the side and make more money than I do with writing. But here’s the thing: J.K. Rowling was turned down my 12 publishing houses before she could see her Harry Potter books get published. The book Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 144 times. Kathryn Stockett's The Help was rejected 60 times from various agents.

Where have you failed?

Maybe it’s with a personal goal and has nothing to do with a job or getting a book published. I’ve heard people tell their stories about how they picked up drinking or using drugs again and how they felt gutted with the struggles they have with addiction.

The same holds true: When you fail, what are you going to do?

Give up? Complain and not act?

Or get back up, dust off your knees, and get to work again?

When I fail, I take stock of what happened and learn what I could have done better. I take that to heart and then apply that to how I’ll move on.

Sometimes the failure is a blessing in disguise. One door closes, and another opens. But we often only see the few feet in front of us and not the full journey of our lives.

If failure comes your way, embrace it and feel how it hurts, but then let it go.

Write another book. Try for another job. Go out with friends if you’ve been dumped. Give compassion and empathy to a friend.

We don’t know what the future will bring. We can’t see that.

But we have a choice to go on, keep trying, grow, shift, evolve, and get up.

I invite you to think of failure as an opportunity. Spin the coin around and see the opportunity that presents itself.

Is getting up and trying again hard? You bet it is.

But that’s the beauty of it. What you learn will make you that much stronger.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.