Like every 20-something I am learning that life is not always easy. We set out to try new things and we get knocked down again and again and again. Some moments we are on top of the world, only to plummet to a level of self-pity and confusion the next.
If there is any industry that is going to teach you that life isn’t easy and as straightforward as it seems, it would have to be the entertainment industry. You might be the most talented, with the best training … but if you are not in the right place at the right time, have the right coloured eyes, or the right height and weight, you simply miss out.
Factors that you could never know dictate you not getting a job.
BUT factors that you could never know also dictate you actually getting a job.
Never give up
When my brother was little he used to trip over all the time. It was quite impressive how many times he would fall!
Despite Mum’s encouragement to put his hands out when he fell he had not yet learnt to do this. He continued falling, bruising his arms and face and whatever hit the ground before his hands did.
One day we were walking along the footpath and he tripped over and for the first time put his hands out! He turned around with grazed and bleeding hands, happy as anything he had finally done what he had been trying to do!
He could now fall as many times as he wanted, because he could get back up and keep moving forward in the direction he was heading.
Whether we are aiming to become a doctor, trying to write a novel, endeavouring to become a teacher, trying to scale a mountain, pursuing a dream to be a performer, or any other number of things—the trick is to not give up.
If things were easy everyone would do them.
At the end of the day no matter how difficult something is, someone is going to do it. Why can’t this someone be you?
Focus on today with your end goal in mind. Practice putting your hands out and getting up when you fall. And no matter what, keep moving forward.
Always remember that you are: BRAVER than you believe. STRONGER than you seem. SMARTER than you think. More BEAUTIFUL than you could ever imagine.
- Winnie the Pooh
Charlotte (Charley) Cox (nee Goiris) works in youth ministry and is studying a Bachelor of Theology at a bible college in Melbourne. Charley enjoys writing children's stories, playing guitar and dreaming the impossible.
Charley Goiris' previous articles may be viewed at