My father was right when he said the lessons that I learned on the Heard Elementary School football field would result in success someday.”         Andy Andrews

August 1971 – Dothan, Alabama: After several of his 6^th grade buddies decided to try out for the Heard Elementary School football team, Andy convinced his father to let him join the team, too. He was excited to have a uniform and proud to be a Heard Elementary Ram. Then practice started.

A few days of practice in the August heat and humidity made Andy realize that football wasn’t as much fun as he had thought. After a week of running, hitting, and being yelled at by the coach, he was tired, sore, and discouraged. Prone to headaches, the heat and physical contact made them worse. Andy wanted to quit. When he approached his mother, she said, “Talk to your father.” His father told him, “It is only a headache. You’ll be ok.”

After two weeks of practice, Andy got his mother to plead his case to his father, but the answer was still no. His father was unmoved by his complaining, attempts to plea-bargain, or threats to run away from home. A very unhappy Andy stuck it out until the end of the season.

When he was 16, Andy’s mother shared how difficult that football season had been for his father. She told him his father had cried, too. He had considered letting Andy quit, but he wanted his 12-year-old son to learn a lesson: quitting is not an option when things get tough.

“I can promise you, son,” Andy’s father shared later, “I wanted to let you quit more than you could have ever wanted to. Quitting a 6^th grade football team is a little thing, but it moves you in a direction that you can begin to see as normal. Andy, it’s always easier to quit than to push through the challenge.” He put his arm around Andy, “Who knows one day, you may experience some success because of the lessons you learned in the fall of your 6^th grade year.”

Nearly three decades later, Andy Andrews wrote the manuscript for a motivational book. He was excited, until he tried to find someone to publish it. The first 10 publishers turned it down. Some were rude, and others didn’t even respond. Manuscripts sent to 20 more publishers were also rejected. A year went by, then two. More than 30 publishers had passed on Andy’s book at that point. He thought about quitting.

After three years, the number of rejections had risen to 50. By then, Andy had been turned down by most of America’s mid-level and major publishers. Friends and family had long since given up. A friend told him, “Andy, don’t embarrass yourself like this. You need to face reality and get on with your life. Fifty of the biggest publishers in the world have agreed that what you have written is not worth printing.” Although the feedback stung, Andy persisted.

The 52^nd publisher loved the manuscript. On November 5, 2002, Thomas Nelson Publishing released The Traveler’s Gift. The book became a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon best seller. It remains the only book to make the New York Times bestseller list in three genres (fiction, non-fiction, and business). ABC’s Good Morning America dubbed the book “one of the five books you must read in your lifetime.”

The Traveler’s Gift has sold two million copies in America and more than six million worldwide. It has been published in more than 40 languages. Super Bowl teams, the U.S. military, Fortune 500 companies, churches, and schools have all drawn inspiration from the book.

Today, Andy Andrews, who the New York Times has hailed “a modern-day Will Rogers,” lives with his wife and two sons in Orange Beach, Alabama. He has written 22 books, including two more New York Times best sellers. He has spoken at the White House at the request of four U.S. presidents and is one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in the country. Andy’s advice to all, “Don’t give up because obstacles are in your way. Stick to it. Persist without exception. Period.”