The world is full of quitters. Some people quit jobs and relationships like changing clothes. At the first sign, or after several signs, of trouble they are ready to pack up and move on. We don’t have staying power anymore. Without staying power, we are unstable and can’t stand up to the slightest struggle.
As a young boy I loved watching college football on Saturday afternoons. I dreamed of one day being a receiver in the NFL. I could catch a ball like nobody’s business. And man, was I fast. So my sights were set high. I knew I was good.
During the summer of transition between junior high and high school, I went to football camp. Just as I thought, I was one of the fastest runners and I could catch anything they threw near me. Even though I was smaller than most of the other players, my confidence was high.
But then the day came to learn defense. With such great offensive skills, what did I need with defensive practice? Up until this point, there had been no defense so all I did was catch and run. But on this day I received my first tackle. What a hit! I really didn’t think it would hurt so much. At that moment, my dream of playing football ended.
I wasn’t prepared for the hits that would inevitably take me down, time and time again. So, I just decided to quit. I couldn’t handle being knocked down.
People quit jobs and relationships because they can’t handle the hard hits. They aren’t prepared to deal with negative consequences to their own mistakes. So what if you messed up at work and got wrote up? You didn’t get fired. So what if you hurt your friend’s feelings and they got mad at you? They didn’t shoot you. Is that a reason to give up?
Every single one of us gets knocked down from time to time. We have the choice of getting up and moving on or we can simply give up. No matter how hard the hits come, getting back up is still an option. If you screwed up at work, do what you can to fix the problem and learn from it so that the next time you are confronted with a similar situation, you’ll know what to do. It doesn’t have to end at the point of takedown.
I could have taken what I learned on the football field that day and grown from it. I could have begun working out and bulking up so that I could withstand the tackles. But instead I chose to be a quitter. You don’t have to quit.
Learn from your mistakes. Grow from them. Just don’t be a quitter. That leads to so much regret in life. Looking back I can see all my misconceptions and failures in fulfilling my dream. Maintain focus on your job, in your relationships, in your dreams and goals. You can make it if you just don’t quit.
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