Risks & Rewards

With every risk that is made, comes a reward. Risk - Reward. Risk - Reward. I've been taking many risks, yet haven't seen any rewards. Actually, that's not true. It was a risk to even write a novel and I was greatly rewarded when I finished it. Shouldn't that be enough? Why do I have this - at times zany - need to have others read my work? I'm not egotistic. I don't want to be glorified. I just want others to find enjoyment in what I wrote as I had. Reading rejection letters that clearly state the agent wasn't interested in the story or not interested enough to read more, is discouraging. It's a business and I understand that. But for me, it's more.