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Josh got the word on his third AIDS test: “negative, negative, negative.” They now believe the first test was a clerical error. The doctors have told him there’s only an “infinitesimal chance” that these two negative tests are wrong, so now Josh feels he’s in the clear. As you’d expect, though, he now has tremendous sensitivity toward people with AIDS. And he plans to tell everyone not to take the antibody test.

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The rabbi told the story of a 19-year-old poet destined for greatness who every winter would walk on a certain pond until one year the ice cracked and he drowned. “The ice didn’t know a great poet was walking on it,” the rabbi said. “You see, the ice never knows. . . nature is completely unaware of us.”

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When he rejects you, you’re allowed to not be okay.

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The truth behind every rejection is that it makes you stronger. You become the person who stands courageously after falling, the one who remains optimistic when negatives conquer the entire room. Someone who doesn’t easily surrender when confronted with fears.

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How many random, chance occurrences were involved in nearly every important advancement in your life.

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The pain of rejection is sharp but short-lived. The pain of playing it safe your whole life is a dull, throbbing ache that will eventually swallow you whole.

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Hearing the word NO means that you’re doing something right.

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We think about the worst scenarios in almost every situation.