Famous Failures

Despite what you might think from the title, this is a very hopeful book. I read it when I was going through a rough time and found it to be very encouraging.  Here’s why: Famous Failures is full of snapshots of people who are now on top of the world when they were at what may have felt like the bottom.

To know that Oprah was demoted from a news anchor position and told she wasn’t fit for television and then went on to become the host of the highest rated talk show in TV history reminds me that just because things are the way the are today doesn’t mean they’ll be this way tomorrow.

Alex Haley won the Pulitzer Prize for writing Roots; but first he endured eight years of rejection letters from magazines for his short stories.

The comic and commentator Dennis Miller worked as a janitor and ice cream scooper.

And there’s more. More to remind us that no matter what things look like now, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that they can get much, much better.

Hopeful. Optimistic. Awesome.