A friend of mine — a retired federal intelligence officer — just announced that the non-fiction book he has been writing since . . . well, almost forever . . . is being published for release in April. The book is of average length, about 300 pages, and was completed some time ago. But because of the nature of his previous employment, and the security issues surrounding the subject matter of his story, it required government approval.

That took seven long, frustrating years, during which I believe most people would have thrown in the towel. But not my friend.

And his success has me thinking about the rewards of patience and perseverance. Another author — the late, great Maya Angelou — was herself an expert on the subject of rising above difficulties, and had this to say:

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

That’s good advice for anyone. And for me, with inspiration from Ms. Angelou and from my good friend, it may be just the kick in the pants I need to get back to my own unfinished manuscript.

Who knows what can happen?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/20/25