The graveyard is full of people who sat around and waited for their opportunity-living a life of regrets instead of amassing a fortune through their failures. Standing at home plate, looking out into the grand stands of possibilities, their bats of action sat resting on their shoulders while waiting for life to throw the perfect pitch-yet it never came.

No one makes it to the halls by waiting on the perfect pitch, they make it because in the face of failure-with 3 balls, 2 strikes, and bases loaded, they would rather take the risk of swinging and missing than to have never swung at all. The difference between success and failure is razor thin, but the gap between those who are willing to risk failure in an effort to achieve ultimate success is vast.

Life doesn’t throw perfect pitches only imperfect ones, but it’s what you do with the sliders, knuckles, curves, heaters- even the ones that hit you that set the sail of your journey called destiny. Those optimals who choose to wait for conditions to be just right before taking action wind up becoming bedridden to risk, rejection, and failure. Because of their inaction, their minds and bodies become atrophied and are too weak to seize even the most perfect of opportunities.

Noah, a man who had never seen rain before, stuck to his assignment of building an arc that took 120 years to complete.  It took 40 years of wilderness experience to prepare Moses for leadership. Steve Jobs was ousted from his own company-only to later reemerge and snatch Apple from the jaws of ruin.  Coach John Wooden coached the UCLA Bruins for 15 years before winning his first of 10 NCAA Championships. It took 13 years of trials, embarrassments, and glorious failures-admonishments of, “it’ll never work,” before Greg Kaplan made Redbox DVD kiosk a reality revolutionizing the movie rental industry. Jack Nicholson was a journeyman actor for 15 years before landing the role in Easy Rider. With every lick, they ticked.

Everything you are doing-everything you are going through counts. Even when: it seems you are working with no end in sight, promotion is never coming, someone else takes the credit for your hard work, you seem to be amassing more loses than wins, they call you crazy for pursuing your ideas, or say you’ll never make it on your own-keep on going because with every lick, you tenaciously get back up- ticking closer toward your noons of success. Success doesn’t come knocking-it merely reveals itself to those who are willing to dig deep and find it. Defeat is never permanent unless you quit.

Keep ticking…