This perhaps is something everyone can relate to, and it falls under all sorts of categories.
It’s in our nature to continue to try over, and over again until we finally succeed. Or at least until we get something right. This is the absolute truth if we ever plan to get anywhere in life, and as we all know very well by now nothing worth having is going to come easy.
When we were young we were rightfully taught if at first you don’t succeed, you must try, try again.
Absolutely.
None of us ever became good at anything overnight. Some things may have come more naturally whether it be school, athletics, jobs, trades or art. But to ever truly master something takes a tremendous amount of time, patience and the ability to learn from our mistakes.
A good mechanic did not learn the tricks of the trade overnight. Quite honestly, it’s fascinating to listen to a seasoned mechanic discuss his/her acquired knowledge by over 30 years of experience.
Same goes with athletics. At this point, who doesn’t know the story of how Michael Jordan did not make his high school basketball team the first time he tried out? Of course as the rest of the story would go, through incredible hard work and the willingness to improve on his part; the man ended up being regarded as the greatest to ever play the game. This is coming from someone who’s not even a fan of basketball per se.
For some reason, it always made perfect sense when it came to these sorts of things. As most of us could certainly relate, there is not a better feeling in the world when all the hard work, sacrifice, learning and even stress seems to have finally paid off.
You all know what we are talking about whatever it means to you, so make sure you give yourself an enormous pat on the back. Again, we are all entirely different as individuals. What is important to us in that regard may differ, so again if you know you made it where you want to be with something special; you have certainly accomplished something.
Never give up. It’s a saying that has become ingrained in all of our minds. Most of us in all actuality live and die by this saying. It’s the American way.
Sometimes we may even continue to press on with certain activities or sports not necessarily because we enjoy it, but merely to appease someone else who appreciates it.
However, what exactly are we talking about by this old saying? Does it apply to everything in life? Certainly when we are referring to all the prior activities just mentioned. That being said, are there certain things worth trying over and over again without seeing anything positive as a result?
We were always told to chase our dreams, play by the rules and we could accomplish anything. We just have to keep trying. Maybe this is true, but is there a line to be drawn?
Let’s dig a little deeper now.
Getting older is something we begin to learn is a natural process that we must learn to accept, and certainly adapt to. Not always easy at times, but it’s just the way life works. Ideas change, situations change, and people change.
Look at how relationships work. Needless to say, for the most part a lot of us can agree they don’t always work out.
When we were younger, we can vividly remember what it was like to feel infatuated with someone. We felt as if we were on top of the world, someone finally felt the same way towards us as we did about them and we were just on cloud nine.
Then as a little time passed, it ended. Sometimes we were broken up with, and if we choose to remember that feeling is like being punched in the stomach.
Other times we may have found ourselves on the other side of the spectrum and made the decision to end things. Again, it’s not an easy thing to do and it’s still very painful.
This is when in a way it all ties into the old saying of never giving up. When we realize after a certain point that something is just not going in a positive direction anymore, is it a good thing to “keep trying?”
Maybe. Maybe not. Truthfully it all depends on the situation, who were are and where we would like to go.
Marriage in that department is a completely different story. An infatuated relationship when we were younger is one thing, but the amount of everything invested in a marriage is another. Finances, property, children all go into that sanctity, and you get to work things out through the worst of times.
Even then, sometimes it very painfully doesn’t work out in the end.
There is a fine line between never giving up, being a quitter and when it’s time to face facts and move on.
Maybe when it comes to a sport, job, or any other type of activity; it would be wise to give it some time and learn as much as we can. In those cases, we can all agree the best way to get better is to keep gaining more and more experience. Hopefully it all eventually comes to us, and for the most part it does if we truly want it to.
Now sure if we only give something one day, throw a hissy fit and say, “I’m going home!” We might be able to agree, yes, that may fall into being a quitter and just giving up.
Don’t feel bad, again it’s something all of us have done at one point. Once again, we’re just human and we’re never going to be perfect.
Anything in life is going to take more time than one single day for crying out loud. If we can’t give at least a little time and see how things work out, yes that’s a bad habit we probably shouldn’t get into.
Then of course there are those moments when it comes to jobs, relationships, or really anything we’ve already talked about when we have to make a decision if certain things are even healthy anymore.
When it reaches that point, are we giving up? Are we quitting? Or have we acknowledged something is just no longer worth putting any more time or effort in?
Again, life is short and time is precious on this earth. Should we waste it on continually trying to please someone else?
After all, what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
