By Dr. Glenn Mollette
We usually don't want to just give up, or conclude we don't have what it takes to go on. I've thought about that some lately in trying to learn a difficult fiddle tune.
What have you thought about quitting? Smoking? Alcohol? Drugs? A toxic relationship? There are so many good things in life that require so much work to make them happen. Yet, when we stay with it there is eventual satisfaction. And, even if we don't finish, we aren't doing a bad thing for trying to do the good things.
There is a process of finishing a course and then retiring from the course. We all retire, quit or are terminated. Kenny Rogers sang, "You have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them." We all do. My dad worked over 30 years in underground coal mining and at the age of 55 he retired. He also quit. He never had any interest in going back to work in the coal mine.
Quitting gives you an opportunity to do something else. If you hang on, then how do you ever have the opportunity to experience the next phase of life? Maybe you don't want to. You like the road you are traveling and you're going to ride it till it ends. There's nothing wrong with that because familiarity and what we know can be very comfortable. It will end though. Life changes.
A man in the Bible said one time, "I've fought a good fight, I've finished the course and I've kept the faith." There are internal and other rewards for hanging in there and not quitting. An old friend used to say often, "The person who loves God most is at his post when all the others have walked away." Have you ever walked away? Maybe you have or that's what you are contemplating today. It doesn't mean life is over, but it will change. Whatever happens next will require a lot of the same stuff - tenacity, working hard, and staying at your post. You can walk away from a lot of things in life, but you can't always walk away or quit everything because then you'll never accomplish anything.
Can you imagine how all our soldiers have felt on the battle fields? They miss their families and home. They go through the agony of war and they can't escape but fight and hang on until their tour of duty is over. Because of their tour of service and not quitting we still have our freedom in America.
You may be on your tour of duty right now and it may not be the military. Anything ever accomplished takes a lot of time, concentration and downright survival of the fittest. It's up to you. You have to ask yourself, "Is it worth it to hang on and not quit?" Only you can answer that question.
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