One-Star Ratings
So, I wrote a fiction novel and published it back in June of 2020. I was excited. Everyone was going to read it, love it, and buy 1,000,000 copies of it, right? I quickly realized that wasn’t how it worked. There are literally millions of electronic books online. Who is going to notice my ridiculously small contribution? So, I decided to change my strategy a bit. I told my online friends about it and did some advertising. I got maybe one or two sales and then nothing. So, I started giving away copies, and finally, some friends read and reviewed it. They were very nice to me — five stars. I was on cloud nine. Then some anonymous person gave it a one-star rating. Ugh, really? I asked my son what he thought. He said, “Dad, honestly, I would give it three and a half.” Ouch. My own flesh and blood telling it like it is. At least he didn’t give it one star.
There’s a life lesson here. Not all of our work is going to be five-star quality. We make mistakes. We have bad days. Things don’t go right … a lot. Most of the time, people just ignore our failures and move on. Sometimes, we get negative feedback. How do we react? Do we take it constructively? Do we write it off? Do we plot to get them back? Think about Proverbs 13:18. “Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.” I will take that one-star rating and try to improve my writing. It’s valuable feedback. What about you? Are there areas of your life that need improvement? Are you making changes? What do you do with your one-star ratings?
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley