Gladness in the Ruthless World

We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of the world ~ Jack Gilbert

I hope your 2013 goals are coming along as you wish.  Part of the reason I think that having a vision, goals, and routines in place is because the world is a big, bad furnace just waiting to burn us up and burn us out while we try to accomplish our goals.

But if you're on a dream journey, I think you have make the positivity come through to cool that furnace.  That's where the stubbornness and gladness come in. 

That's the crazy thing about writing.  A good story is built on conflict and tension and there's a lot of rejection.  But through it all, folks are plugging along and publish books.  When my routines work and I fell myself moving forward with my project, that's when I feel the positivity cooling the furnace in the world around me. 

Where do you pull your stubbornness and gladness from when the world is a furnace trying to burn you up or burn you out?