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“Celebrate your success and stand strong when adversity hits, for when the storm clouds come in, the eagles soar while the small birds take cover.”
Giving up. It’s easy right? You take on an immense task, you meet a few bumps in the road, you push past a big obstacle, and with relief you think to yourself, “Wow, I made it! I’m so glad I got over that!” And then the unthinkable happens. You meet an even harder challenge than the last one. Suddenly it hits you. You are fed up. With that acknowledgment, you throw your hands up and say, “I quit. I’m done. Why did I waste all my time with this?”
The goal you once worked so hard for has slipped away. Just like that. It still seemed easy right? Wrong.
Of course, the act itself of giving up is really easy. With just a few words, your goal is behind you. But the effect of giving up is what makes the act counterproductive in the long run.
It becomes a habit
When you repeatedly throw your hands up in frustration instead of pushing past the obstacles that are holding you back, it soon becomes a habit. To some people, whenever it gets too hard, what’s worked for them in the past (giving up) will work for them again. Giving up becomes the thing to do. As I previously stated, giving up is easy. However, giving up only seems to work because it leaves you free from the burdens you felt when you were working towards something difficult. Although you feel unburdened, it is still apparent in the back of your mind that you haven’t finished what you started. You let a few tough instances hold you back from the vision of success you formed within your mind.
You tend to aim low
Strenuous goals are too difficult for the quitter to achieve. So, in general, quitters tend to aim for what comes easily to them. But it’s still a goal, right? Does it really matter as long as they achieved the goal they set for themselves? Well, yes it is true that simple goals are still goals, but it also matters what type of goals they set for themselves. Nothing that comes easy will be of any significant use. Just because something seems impossible, doesn’t mean it can’t be done by a normal person. Everyone has potential to do something amazing. I am not saying everyone can do ANYTHING, but people can at least make a great impact on their lives if they accept the reality of hardship that comes will setting enormous goals.
You cannot live out your dreams
Do you really want to keep climbing the same easy mountains? Is it worth the trouble to set goals you already know that you can attain or is it better to set a goal you might not reach, but have always wanted to strive for? Only those who achieve the seemingly impossible can hope to be recognized. If you don’t even try to live that one big dream that you might have within your subconscious, you’ll never be fulfilled. Of course the small goals you make are definitely important, but if they aren’t working towards a collective focus, they are worthless.
Giving up because a task or goal is too hard is no excuse not to succeed. I remember a quote from reading about Napoleon Hill, a phenomenal entrepreneur. He was talking about achieving your life purpose. He said something along the lines of “When you work towards any difficult goal, there will always be walls. The walls are not meant to block you, but only those who do not have the desire to push past them and reach their goal.” So when you meet resistance while taking on a challenge, think of an obstacle as a sign that you have to push just a little more.
Dreams can be postponed, but NEVER give them up. For instance, I’m not going to give up on making this blog a success. I hope to achieve a steady income from this blog, but it’s going to take a lot more work for that to happen. Watch me. To those who think I won’t succeed, I will turn a deaf ear. Deconstructive criticism will flow right through me.
So when faced with the opportunity to give up, pass it by before your dreams pass you by.
photo credit: tomsaint11
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[...] Anyasor presents On the Act of Giving Up posted at Living the HiLife2B (in college), saying, “When faced with the opportunity to give [...]
Never never never never ever give up!
[...] Anyasor presents On the Act of Giving Up posted at Living the HiLife2B (in college), saying, “When faced with the opportunity to give [...]
[...] Anyasor presents On the Act of Giving Up posted at Living the HiLife2B (in college), saying, “When faced with the opportunity to give [...]
So many people have written about this topic–from Langston Hughes to Joyce Meyer. It’s so easy to let your dreams die, but for those who persevere, there can be great rewards.
Annaly, you hit the nail on the head. The path less traveled (the hard one) yields the most profit.
Cool work, Chukwuma. This is real stuff!!
This article is so true, Im am at a rough time in my life right now. Reading this is conformation thats me know that I am doing to right thing by following my dreams. No matter how hard things may seem now I will keep pushing forward to achieve them.