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Are you ashamed of your struggles?

Let me break this down for you:

  • Stephen King: King is a best-selling writer (currently 350 million books sold and climbing) whose work has been made into several motion pictures. However, his first work was rejected 30 times, which lead to King throwing it in the trash. Thankfully, his wife made him keep working at it, and from that his writing took off.


  • Oprah Winfrey: We should all know her story by now. To many, losing a child is worse than losing a business. Oprah lived through this hellish reality after giving birth at 14. She managed to not only overcome this, but also being repeatedly molested by her cousin, uncle and a family friend. Despite her tragic past, she has worked hard to become a success and amass a net worth of $2.9 billion.

  • Michael Jordan: As a kid, Jordan loved basketball and knew he wanted to make a career out of it, though no coach would give him a chance because he was short. After using an inside connection to get into a basketball camp from which players for college teams were chosen, Jordan got noticed by a coach -- who still chose not to invite him to the team. Now a member of the NBA Hall of Fame, He was cut from his high school basketball team. He once said, “I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I have missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”


  • Kerry Washington: Before making it on Scandal, she had done two pilots. The shows of those pilots got picked up, but unfortunately Kerry was replaced in both shows by a different actress.


  • Adele Adkins: Adele’s been very open about her battles with anxiety and stage fright. How scared? "One show in Amsterdam, she was so nervous she escaped out the fire exit. I've thrown up a couple of times. Once in Brussels, I projectile vomited on someone.” She added, "My nerves don't really settle until I'm offstage." But she found strength from another singer: Beyoncé.


  • Sara Blakely: She didn't make it as a standup comedian. She couldn't become a lawyer like her dad because she failed the LSAT — twice. She even auditioned to play Goofy at Disney World, but because she was shorter than the required 5'8", they made her a Chipmunk instead, Blakely said on a panel at the Forbes Women's Summit in New York on Wednesday. She spent seven years selling fax machines and was rejected almost daily. People would hang up on her cold calls and rip up her business card in front of her and yet Spanx is now a household name.


  • Dr Iyabo Ojikutu: After the death of her father, she decided to write a book at age 45 years. A death in the family for most is not a springboard into staying motivated, but Dr Iyabo channeled her emotions into writing permanent happiness and now the book has taken her to the UN as she has spoken in multiple platforms and has received rave reviews on amazon.


So my question to you Dear Beautiful is, do not let anyone make you ashamed of your falls, failures, history or fears. It is just a part of who you are and you are a masterpiece and a work in progress all at the same time.

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