If at first you don't succeed . . .

Our family motto is from a plaque my mother gave us that she bought in Gatlinburg, TN on one of my parents' visits to see my grandparents in North Carolina. This plaque states:

"Everything cometh to he who waiteth, as long as he who waiteth worketh like hell while he waiteth"

This saying is oh, so true. We have tried to instill in our children as they were growing up that things do not magically happen. No genie, no god, no one is going to make something happen for them. It is but themselves and their own efforts that things will come to pass. They have to do it for themselves. Also, despite great efforts, sometimes things don't turn out the way we planned, and what we work for doesn't materialize. But then, does that mean we just give up or write it off as something that wasn't meant to be? Hell no! The saying doesn't state how long we will have to work and wait, just that "everything cometh to he who waiteth, and work while he waiteth" . . .though tired, weary, and discouraged, keep persevering and it will happen. . .eventually.

There are choices in life and we can either stay on the path we are on and keep trying for a certain thing, or choose another path to a new direction. When one door closes, we can open it back up again and give that thing we failed at another try, or we can open another door and change directions. Sometimes it takes two, three or more tries to attain our goals. Sometimes when we change directions, we find out that the new goal is what works out best for us in the long run. Life isn't easy and success isn't guaranteed in anything we choose to do. But it would be very sad to just give up and not even try at all. As homeschooling advocate, John Holt said, "It's never too late."

Sometimes the things we work for the hardest become our greatest accomplishments in the end, even if it takes awhile to achieve them.