Hey there, PiBoIdMo-ers. Hope you’re all well nourished and ready to roar through these final days! This post is about two things: perseverance and truth. The way I see it, there really aren’t many truths in life at all. There’s Death. There’s Taxes. There’s the fact I will wash every load of laundry at least twice because I will forget to put it in the drier and discover it days later…but I digress.

There’s also another:

“Stopping before you reach your goal guarantees you will not reach your goal.”

Now, that may sound like a bit of “duh” phrase. But is it, really? It’s one of many things I take from this incredibly inspirational cartoon about perseverance:

What do you take from it?

Oh, and here’s a little rhyming pep talk for ya, too:

You’re near the end it’s getting tough.
You’re all tapped out of clever stuff.

You may be thinking, this is it.
I’ve done enough. Who needs this s—?

So give it up. Admit defeat.
Or better yet, just lie. Or cheat!

Who needs blood or sweat or tears.
Respect from who? A bunch of peers?

And who needs real integrity.
Who needs a contract? Eh. Not me.

Empty pages float my boat.
27? All she wrote.

30 is for suckers, dude.
Embrace that downer attitude.

Writing’s hard, you’re filled with dread.
Let other people write instead.

Grab your towel. Throw it in,
and let the giving up begin!

BUT….

if you choose to persevere…
to fight and push, then listen here:

To you, I bow. I bow down low.
You’ll win the battle. Blow by blow.

Your quest to find the best of you
will dominate the rest of you.

Your goals and dreams are yours to lose.
And yours to harness….if you choose.

So choose the challenge. Choose to win!
Dig down deep for what’s within.

And one day gaze upon a shelf,
filled with books,
you wrote
yourself.

You never know!! That little idea on day 30 could be the next NYT Bestseller!!

GO PiBoIdMo-ers….GO!!

.

Tiffany Strelitz Haber has eaten fried bugs, jumped out of airplanes and lives for adventures. Tiffany grew up in NYC, but is now located in central NJ, and available for workshops everywhere.

Her debut picture book, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN (Holt/Macmillan) was recently featured in the NY Times Sunday Book Review and the art will be featured in the Society of Illustrators 2013 Original Art Show Traveling Exhibit.

Her next book, OLLIE AND CLAIRE (Philomel/Penguin) is due out April, 2013.

Please visit Tiffany at her website: ItsRhymeTime.com, on Facebook, or Tweet her @TiffRhymes.

Tiffany is giving away a signed copy of THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN (which is very NICE)! Leave a comment to enter (one comment per person). A winner will be randomly selected in one week. Good luck!