It's Just Time To Quit

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It seems like an unspoken rule that the first post a blogger publishes in a new year should be goal focused and extremely motivational. I'm not usually a rule breaker but I'm really not feeling very
motivational (a possible factor in the lateness of this "New Year's" post).

Photo by Isaac Holmgren on Unsplash
Honestly folks, I'm ready to quit. Maybe I'm stressed. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe it's just time for a change. Maybe it's different every day, but everyone has their limit and I've reached mine.

Like so many people do, I've tried setting goals and tried my best to achieve them, but my best never seems to be enough. The things I accomplish bring little satisfaction and I always feel like I should have done more, but if I set bigger goals then I'll only increase my stress and my chances of failure. I can't take it anymore and it's just time to quit. After all, it's better to quit than to fail, right?

WRONG!!

If I'm living, breathing, thinking, seeing, drinking coffee, (all true at this time) then I have a purpose! The future is a scary prospect sometimes and sometimes failure is a part of that. But here's the deal: every attempt has an opportunity for success, and every success and every failure provides opportunities to learn.

After multiple years (is saying multiple of a plural redundant?) on this earth I've come to realize that no matter how big my goals are, my only chance of succeeding is to try. If I want to achieve more then I have to try more and try harder.

Do bigger goals have bigger risks? Yes.

Is that scary? Absolutely.

And you know what else is scary? Knowing that if I achieve a bigger goal then I'll have to set a bigger-bigger goal the next time.

But you know what is even scarier than that?? Always wondering if I could have achieved something I should have tried but didn't. Running from the future is an endless, hopeless journey because I can never outrun fear. So maybe I was right in the beginning; maybe it is time to quit. - Not to quit trying but to quit running.

"I'd rather always be trying
than wish I'd tried just
a little bit longer."

I quit: Running from past failures and using them as excuses to stop trying new things.
I quit: Running from potential failures and using the illusion of  worry as a "reason" to procrastinate.
I quit: Running after distractions that are more comfortable than what I know I should be doing.
I quit: Running spontaneously towards bigger goals without taking time to create and follow the necessary plans.

Bottom line? I'd rather try and fail than wonder what I could have achieved. Will I always feel like trying? No. But maybe when I feel like quitting I can reread this post and push myself to keep going. I think I'd rather always be trying than wish I'd tried just a bit longer.

The future might always be scary, simply because it's unknown, and no amount of worry or procrastination will change that. However, I can go there with courage and a purpose and know that I'm not going there alone. God has promised to be with me, to strengthen me, and to use me in spite of my weaknesses (emphasis plural). The end goal is to glorify God with my life. Any lesser goal in that pursuit is worth trying, and no effort with that in mind is wasted, regardless of the results.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58

Never give up, my Friends, and Hakuna Matata! (If you don't know what that means, don't worry about it.)

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