How well you handle disappointment says a lot about your character. Life dishes up disappointment like daily specials at a corner diner. They’re the speed bumps of life. Some bumps are small like rain on the day you’ve planned an outside activity. Others are major like losing your house keys when you need to get to the bathroom. When life dishes up surprises I have a few choice ways for handling the unexpected. I curl up in bed and hide under the blanket or cry in my soup and accept the inevitable, or square my shoulders to dig deeper for more determination.
This week my writing career hit a speed bump. Like many diligent writers, I followed all the rules. I wrote the best manuscript I possibility could. I shopped it around at several conferences, found an interested editor and sent it to her. Then, I started to work immediately on my next story idea. In between I watched the phone and the mail, waiting for those magically words. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. 
I waited four long grueling months before I decided to check on my manuscript. I felt like someone had poured ice water down my back when I was told my manuscript could not be found. Four months of waiting and nothing to show for it. I had to reset the clock and start all over again. The editor was kind enough to request I resend the manuscript and I did. But first I had to wallow in my misfortune. I gave myself four whole days to nurture my disaster. Then I dusted off my melancholy and mailed another manuscript. The waiting clock has been reset, life has returned to normal. I’m waiting.
When life throws you a curve ball, what do you do?
