Quit Quitting

Quit Quitting dan skognes motivation blogger speaker teacher trainer coach consultant

Perhaps you have heard life is marathon, not a sprint. The problem seems to be that we have a sprinter’s mentality in a race that takes a lifetime to complete. How can that be?  How can we be so short-sighted? Experience and history should be clues, yet so many people remain clueless.

The reality is we don’t seem to realize how short our time is on this earth.  We think of retirement as being way down the road, then we blink and we are thinking about filing for social security. How did THAT happen?

What concerns me is that people give up on marriages, friendships, jobs, hobbies, and basically anything that  challenges them. We have an epidemic of quitting when the going gets tough. What we should remember the old adage that “The grass is NOT always greener on the other side.” The grass is greener where you water it.

The truth is sometimes hard to swallow. I know everyone on the planet has regrets from quitting something in their life too soon. For me, it was getting out of the medical field after investing 20 years of my life into it. I loved what I was doing but was burned out on the travel (I have a million miles on American). I know what I was feeling, but what was I thinking??? (I think that is a lyric from a song…LOL).

Some people go through job after job or relationship after relationship, often quitting before they see the rewards for their efforts. Admittedly, some jobs and some relationships are toxic and should not be continued.  We have all had that at some point in our lives. That is not the point I am addressing. I am talking about good jobs and good relationships that we give up on because they don’t meet our expectations when we want them to. We want what we want, and we want it now. Am I right?

Here are some thoughts to ponder:

  • If a relationship or job was good enough to enter in to, it is good enough to give your best to. Allow it time to bloom.
  • If you want to quit something, quit complaining. Complaining is draining for you and everyone around you.
  • Count your blessings. Some people would love to just have a relationship that was not abusive or a job that paid a decent wage. Be thankful for you what you have.
  • Run to win, but anticipate roadblocks and surprises. That is life. The world is full of people who are imperfect…including you and me. Allow people to be people and learn to be kind to those that are not.
  • Think before you quit. Don’t let the heat of the moment drive you to make a decision you will regret the rest of your life. I know many people who wish they had not walked away from a relationship or a job, but now it is too late.
  • Find ways not to burn bridges if you do have to quit. You never know when you have to re-cross the bridge. It sure is a lot easier if it is still standing and in good condition.
  • Learn this lesson: endurance and perseverance help you and stretch you to reach your true potential. If there is no opposition, there is no growth. It is in the resistance we encounter that we grow. Like the song says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” It may sound like a cliché, but there is a lot of truth to that.

Whatever obstacles you are facing right now, don’t give up. Don’t give it. Don’t quit. I will be cheering you on to the finish line.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

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