It’s Thursday, and we’re talking rejections, which means it’s time for a story.
Once upon a time, there was a tiny seahorse named Cygnus.
He lived in a beautiful reef filled with corals and fish, but no other seahorses. Cygnus was all alone.
He didn’t really mind, at first.
He swam around and looked at the corals.
He played with the sea fans.
He watched the fish.
He played seahorse games and dreamed little seahorse dreams.
Slowly but surely, Cygnus grew up. Eventually, he realized he was lonely.
He longed for a friend.
And then, one day, a miracle happened.
Two baby seahorses appeared on the reef!
Cygnus loved them and tried to make friends, but the baby seahorses didn’t know him.
They played with one another and hitched to a hoop too small for Cygnus to share.
But Cygnus refused to give up.
He watched the baby seahorses grow and took every opportunity to show them he meant no harm.
Someday, he knew, those babies would be his friends.
After several weeks, the baby seahorses realized that Cygnus wasn’t a monster after all. They watched him hitch to the corals and imitated his hitching style. They swam where he swam and slept where he slept, and eventually….
… many months later….
One of those baby seahorses turned into quite a special friend indeed.
The lesson Cyg learned from rejection is one every writer and artist needs to remember too. Sometimes rejection doesn’t come because you aren’t nice enough, or smart enough, or beautiful enough to succeed. Sometimes the time just isn’t right for you yet.
Be patient. Be friendly. Be steadfast. And just keep swimming.
Like Cygnus, your day will come.
Wow, that made me teary. Excellent post, Susan. As a sidenote: I just love seahorses.
Thank you Lisa – I’m so glad you liked it! I love the seahorses too. They’re such amazing creatures.
I forgot to get back and comment after I read this yesterday morning- it made me teary too, lol. Seahorse love. Plus – it was so cute that they started following him around and learning from him. 🙂
It was an amazing thing to watch. I’m glad I had the chance to share the photos and the story 🙂