“If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up.”
~Author Unknown
I have heard so many people say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I suppose that could translate to people simply giving up and throwing in the towel. They may examine what went wrong down the line, but for all intense and purposes they give up the fight because it just got too hard. When they do find themselves wanting to go back to that place later on in life they find that they have to start all over again and that can be discouraging for anyone.
I found the above quote (at the top of my post) when I was going through my facebook timeline and reading other people’s updates. When I read it, I tried to figure out if that applied to me. I replayed certain big moments throughout my life where I felt like everything just fell apart and I had to carry on but I don’t think that it was ever a case where I had to really start over. That’s because never once have I given up.
I’ve always been more of a pick up where I left off type of person. I will admit that when I find the walls collapsing around me I do have a tendency to get the urge to run for the (imaginary) hills. Instead I just take a step back from things and in a sense reevaluate what’s happening. When I go back to the problem, I never start from scratch, I simply pick up where I left off and continue in a different direction (hopefully the right one this time).
Starting over isn’t ideal. Once you’ve started something and have a clear vision for it there should be no turning back. You should never see that rough patch as a reason to begin all over again when it isn’t necessary. You can’t complain about how hard it is to begin again if you are going to keep giving up when it gets hard.
Ms. L. told me the other day that I have to start seeing the things in myself that other people see in me and she went on to list a lot of attributes that she saw in me that made me feel a little embarrassed. I wasn’t embarrassed because I was flattered necessarily (although I was) but more so because I couldn’t see what it is that she sees. But if I had to list one strong attribute about myself that I firmly believe is true and can clearly see in myself, I would have to say it is that I never give up.
I get knocked down (a lot), and admittedly I stay down for longer than I should at times, but I have never just completely given up. I’ve wanted to. I sulk, I cry, I ask why me a countless number of times (which I know I need to stop doing), and then I suck it up, I reevaluate the situation, I get up and I get moving again. Sometimes I am only operating on a hope and a prayer, but sometimes that is all that you need in order to operate. For anyone out there who is thinking about giving up on something that they know is meant for them, don’t. It will just make things a lot harder when you have to start all over again. Stop starting over with a new (not always better) plan. Instead just stop giving up on the old one.
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
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