18 Nov We All Have Bad Days: Just Ask These Celebs
Life is like a rollercoaster-themed cocktail full of uncertainty, bliss, unforeseen disappointment, and the subsequent need to say farewell to your comfort zone. Don’t expect the ride to be like Interstate 15, where it’s a straight shot from the neon lights and round-the-clock partying of Vegas to the illustrious Southern California coastline.
You’re going to face obstacles. But guess what? That’s part of life.
If you’re standing at the base of a mountain wondering when you teetered off the edge of that peak, fear not. These celebs met the notorious face of failure before ascending the ladder of success and becoming the household names they are today. While they’ve seen their fair share of bad days, they never stopped moving forward and reaching higher.
J.K. Rowling
The epic creator of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the boy with the lightning scar braved a whirlwind of setbacks and hardships in her rise to becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world today. Speaking of her dark days at a Harvard University commencement speech in 2008, Rowling confessed, “My exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless…By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.”
Although she battled depression and felt as if she hit rock bottom, Rowling used her love of writing as an outlet to weather the tough times. Oh, and the legendary tale of Harry Potter was rejected a whopping 12 times before it finally got the green light for publishing. Goodbye haters. This billionaire wasn’t giving up on her dreams.
And side note: She’s an epic tweeter.
Oprah Winfrey
Everyone knows Oprah infamously hands out cars like candy (still waiting on mine), which has turned into an irresistibly share-worthy meme. Her glamorous career, however, required a lot of nosedives before taking off. While her childhood was littered with financial hardship and abuse, she continued to chase her aspirations. After dropping out of college at 19 to pursue media-related endeavors, she finally landed the co-anchoring gig of her dreams.
A mere 7 months later, however, she was fired and subjected to humiliating rumors that she was too emotionally invested in her stories. Even though she secured a first-class ticket on the rejection train, she never lost her tenacity and optimism. And it paid off. She eventually scored her own talk show and is now a wealthy, influential, and respected role model for young women today.
Tyler Perry
Perry is an inspiration. He endured both physical and sexual abuse, was kicked out of high school, and made an attempt to take his own life twice. After relocating to Atlanta at the age of 23, he worked a number of odd jobs while pursuing his passion for the stage. He wrote, produced, and starred in I Know I’ve Been Changed in 1992 – his first theater production based partly on his tumultuous upbringing. Perry dumped all his savings into the show and it completely tanked. A mere 30 people came to watch the performance, which only lasted one weekend. Despite the failure, Perry continued working hard and even slept in his car a bulk of the time due to financial struggles.
After reworking the storyline for his production over and over again, success struck for Perry six years later when the show finally became a success. From Tyler Perry’s House of Payne to the creation of his Madea character, Perry is now one of the highest-paid men in the entertainment world, capturing the attention of audiences across the globe.
Michael Jordan
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
One of Jordan’s most infamous quotes and a personal favorite of mine speaks to the personal strength and success that can be derived from failure. He’s one of most renowned NBA players of all time, yet Jordan was turned away by his high school’s varsity basketball team after being told he was too short.
The rejection sparked an irrepressible fire inside Jordan, who trained rigorously in an effort to prove coaches wrong. He wound up becoming the star player on his school’s junior varsity team. That summer, thanks to his genes, he grew another 10cm, providing him with the height advantage he needed to earn his way onto the varsity squad.
Moral of the story? It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from – we all have bad days. Knowing you’re not alone and reminding yourself that people face rejection, failure, and pain every day will help you take positive steps towards healing. If you let fear or anger dominate your emotions during hard times, you may wind up making a decision you’ll forever regret. Instead, let those bad days fuel your motivation, help you grow as an individual, and remind you that tomorrow will be brighter.
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