Don't Ever Give Up

Abraham Lincoln first attempted a career in business in 1831 and failed miserably. A year later he ran for state legislature unsuccessfully. That same year he lost his job and applied to law school but was laughed out of consideration because of his miserable qualifications. Not long after that humiliating ordeal, he started another business using money he borrowed from a close friend. Before the year ended, however, that business faded and failed. Lincoln claimed bankruptcy and spent the next seventeen years paying off debt. In 1835 he fell deeply in love with Ann Rutledge, only to have his heart broken when she died soon after their engagement. The following year he had a complete nervous breakdown and spent the six months in bed recovering. In 1838 he sought to become speaker of the state legislature and was defeated. In 1840, two years later, he sought to become the elector of the state, and was defeated. Three years later he ran for Congress and lost. In 1849 he sought the job of land officer in his home state but was rejected. In 1854 he ran for the Senate of the United States. Again, he lost. In 1856 he sought the vice-presidential nomination at his party's national convention. He got less than one hundred votes, suffering yet another embarrassing defeat. In 1858 he ran for the U.S. Senate and lost again.

Finally in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency of the United States. And after winning the most devastating war our country has ever experienced he was reelected for a second term.

Don't ever give up! You never know what prize awaits you on the other side of your pain.