Weekly Something: Finding Warmth in the Cold Winds of Writing Rejections

A dear author friend of mine, told me over the weekend that she has had it with rejection letters, with working so hard on promoting her books, with the editing and rewriting, that it is all too much for her, so for awhile she thinks she's just going to hunker down and pick up writing again once she felt she could rebound from the rejections.

Through running Authors Promoting Authors, I hear this scenario often.
I hear about authors who are going to pull their self-published or small press books.

I’m not going to go into a tirade about how hard the whole writing business can be or the statistics of books-there is a great post here that covers those topics well.

I have sent query letters out, only to be rejected and my own book (even though it has sold over 300 copies, with no backing and not much publicity) has had its struggles in the last few months.
How does an author keep going?

I think of it as finding warmth in the cold wind.

In my life, I have had some pretty big rejections, with schools, with jobs I really wanted, a job I really loved and lost, with house and home.
All of them can cause your cosmology to get shifted and jostled till you've lost sight of your purpose, your meaning, or even what you want to do.
Some of these can even cause your "Will" to shut down. The thing that tells you, "I CAN", and its also the thing, some new-agers say, that helps manifest your dreams into reality.
If your personal will, the centre that tells you how you relate to the world and where you are going, shuts down, life can seem pretty sluggish.

My solution to keeping all of this at bay, is just to continue on.
I know its cliche and I know its easier said than done but really, what else is there to do?

That's when I haven't lost sight of what I want and still believe I have what it takes to get there.
The few times that I've lost all sense and became sluggish…. well it took time.

The biggest help to me, I think, is looking back at all the times in my life, where someone said, "you can't" and comparing that with everything I have done.

For me, what most people take for granted, did not come easily, so I kind of have a big, "So There!" to stick out to the world.
And I bet you do, too. All of us have a "so what" story.
You know, the story that goes: "my father left me when I was six.....my mother didn't take me to piano lessons....I was abused/addicted....they said I wouldn't survive the year..."

And that pales in comparison to the rejection letters and the struggle with my book.
Or your rejection letters and your struggles with your book.

In the next couple of months, my book will have a relaunch and I am looking forward to what might come from it now.

How did you find your warmth in the wind? What helps you to keep on going despite it all?