NANOWRIMO - 12th time's the charm?

Here we are again on the eve of my twelfth NANOWRIMO. Will this be the year I hit the 50k word count mark and write the great all-American novel? Most likely not. Don't get me wrong, it would be great to accomplish what others have, but it's not why I keep coming back after eleven failed attempts. Perhaps, I'm a glutton for punishment or perhaps I want to see if I can best my previous attempts. 

Last week my son applied for a job at school. Now, he's a third grader so the job will have the appropriate amount of responsibility that is for the elementary school aspiring student leaders. Now, there were nine other kids in my son's class who also applied for the job in addition to kids from the other elementary grades. According to my son, only a few students from each class would be "hired". Armed with this information, my son took a job application and filled it out that day. Needless to say he was very excited about getting a shot at this job opportunity. To the application question asking why he was interested in the job he wrote "he wanted to meet new people, make new friends, and help the community." A very thoughtful response in my book. However, I did chat with my son about there being a possibility that with the amount of students applying he may not get the job, but that should not keep him from applying for other things in the future. I shared with him that his dad and I have not always gotten all the jobs we've applied for and actually when we moved back to Connecticut his dad had to apply three times to work at the company he at which he had previously worked before he finally got the job. After hearing that, my son asked a very important question which was "why do you keep trying after having failed so many times?" (Great question!) I told him that I use failure as a motivator instead of as a deterrent; I don't let it discourage me. I use those moments to fuel me as I seek to better myself, and acquire what I need to be a stronger candidate the next time. I told him if he really wants an opportunity then he'll just have to keep going after it. 

So that is what I do each November. I sign up to write a novel in thirty days. By their 50k word count standards I fail each year, but I choose to see it differently. I choose to define my success by writing more than I did last year and/or writing each day. If I do either or both of these things, it's a win and if by some crazy coincidence I also hit 50k (and write a bestselling novel), well, that's just an added bonus. Tomorrow I start NANOWRIMO again and I'll keep you posted on my success.