The paths to success are so often painful ones. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon nor were most of the friends I have. I was talking with a co-worker today and admitted that I had been feeling kind of cynical lately, even depressed a bit. They surprised me when they admitted feeling similar. The exchange was short but genuine.

I can only suppose that we all have some rough times where we wonder why things aren’t working out as we thought they would or turning out exactly as we planned, or taking far longer than we anticipated. Am I the only one that has days like this? Add to this add the realization that there are far less days ahead for those of us on the other side of our fifth decade that those days we have passed. Kind of a downer.

It makes reading a list of stories about people that never gave up that much more amazing. Emory.edu has a list of accounts of people that rose above their obstacles, doubts, and failures. It makes me wonder how they did it. How they kept going when they had no reason or encouragement to continue.

Here’s a sample:

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. Not a big deal. But he lost every election for public office until becoming Prime Minister at age 62.

Macy failed seven times before his store in NYC caught on.

Emily Dickinson had only seven poems published while she lived.

Bell telephone was struggling and went to Western Union for help. Bell offered all their rights to them. Western Union rejected it calling the telephone nothing more than an electrical toy.

Hank Aaron went 0 for 5 in his first time at bat with the Milwakee Braves.

From 1974 to 1993, Tom Landry, Check Knoll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson won 11 of the 19 Super Bowls. These coaches, all of whom are considered as good as the game as seen, also each recorded the worst records of first season head coaches in league history. O-fers. They did not win a game in those first years.

Johnny Unitas’s first NFL pass was … an interception. Worse, it was returned for a touchdown. Joe Montana’s first big league pass … an interception. In Troy Aikman’s first season, every touchdown pass was countered with two interceptions. Aikman’s first season didn’t include a single victory.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper because his boss thought he lacked imagination. He experienced more than one bankruptcy before Disneyland.

Every cartoon Charles Schultz submitted for his high school was rejected. Ironically, Walt Disney chose not to hire him either.

Sidney Poitier was told after his first audition that he was wasting people’s time and that dishwashing might be more appropriate job for him.

Gertrude Stein submitted poems for almost 20 years before on was accepted.

Van Gogh sold only one painting in his life, to his sister. He kept painting during his life and painted over 800 more.

Dr. Seuss’s first book was rejected by 27 publishers.

We’ve all heard the stunning late in life success of?Colonel Sanders and Abraham Lincoln. So many others.

How did they push through the feelings of failure, fear, depression?

What will we accomplish if we stay true to dreams and goals?

Certainly, one’s best days can be ahead, despite the present circumstances that suggest otherwise.