This cattle business thing has a way of beating you down. In a way I think it's good. Only the ones who truly want to do this will stay the course and keep working until things start to go their way. I have a young guy who helps me show and he was a bit disappointed with how his cattle placed this year and I shared this with him:
We purchased 6 yearling angus heifers in 1999. We attended our first major fall show (with Angus) in 2008 with 8 head of cattle. We got last or second last in every single class. My parents told me I was wasting my time and money. I went back and used what I learned from that experience. 4 years later we had 5 class winners, Reserve Junior Champion Female, Senior Champion Female, Junior Champion bull, and were premier exhibitor. I've been fortunate to have maintained a high level of success showing and last fall, 6 years after that first attempt, we won Champion Female at 3 major shows (including a National show) with a cow that was part of that first show string in 2008.
Don't let the ups and downs get to you. It's never as bad or as good as you think it is!
