While it is true that failure teaches us more than does success, it is sometimes not easy to keep up the good fight with a dashed ego. Put the Ego in its place as your help mate - in other words, you are not the Ego's slave. Sure, we want others to think well of us and our work, but life is like living in a funhouse full of mirrors. What you see (project outward) is what you get in return. When some scary distortion arises, know it is the mirrors...the surroundings... get back to some safer (read as healthier) space and try again. When someone appears to "dis" you, maybe it is their own projection, and really nothing to do with you. (Read the Four Agreements by Ruiz)
We do need feedback to know when we're off track and be thankful for it; a direct message beats the heck out of a stab in the back. There are lots of axioms and stories about what seems like a friend who isn't, and what seems like an enemy but turns out to be a stroke of luck. So, you can't often tell until you look back in retrospect and contemplation. Ah... experience.
It is nearly impossible to conduct really useful discernment without the attendent empirical experience that allows judgement without drama. Wait! Are there times when full on Opera is called for? When a distraction is needed? Deflecting the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Maybe. Mostly it should be remembered that lots of other people are not giving up. Many who may not be near as talented as you are keep showing up on time to do the work. You have to do that as well. Don't hide your light under a basket.
Here it comes, one of my favorite sayings: A lighthouse doesn't run around looking for ships to save, it just stands there and shines. Do your work. Keep trying new things. Don't fear experimentation or failure....it's the only way we discover new stuff and make our skills sharper.
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