I've had a number of aspiring writers ask in recent weeks, how do you stay positive and hopeful in the face of rejection? It's a tough question. The answer begins with this: all writers face rejection, all of them. And the difference between the ones who succeed and the ones who don't is often a matter of persistence. You just don't give up. 

So for today's Friday Five, I'm posting some of my favorite quotes that keep me believing when times are tough.

1."If you believe you can, you might. If you know you can, you will."    ~Steve Maraboli

2. “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”     ~ Charles F. Kettering 

3. “Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution.”   ~David Joseph Schwartz

4."To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is... you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived."  ~ Richard Bach

5. "Why do you stay in prison
    when the door is so wide open?
    Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
    Live in silence."
         ~ Rumi

Some of them may sound repetitious, but sometimes our brains need to hear things a multitude of ways before we get it. Step away from fear, the ugly 'what-ifs', and know in your heart that you're already there.