Why I Advocate Giving Up

I was reading Chris Guillebeau's blog today and was glancing at the titles of the books and blog posts in the right hand column. I saw one titled ‘Feel like giving up?’ Well, I absolutely had to click on it. And when I did I burst into tears. As I sat there, with my head in my hands and tears streaming down my face, I noticed thoughts running through my mind. Then I heard myself responding to these thoughts. It went something like this:

I’m just so tired.
No your not. Do you honestly feel tired?
No, I don’t. But then what’s wrong?
I don’t know. What do you feel now.
I feel like giving up.
What do you feel like giving up?
I feel like giving up on everything….
No you don’t. What do you feel like giving up on?
I’m tired of worrying about ___________!
Then give it up. Stop worrying about it. You have a plan in place. You’re taking action and moving forward. So give up the worrying and go back to enjoying each day even if that one little piece of your life isn’t exactly as you’d like it right this minute.

So yes, there is a time and a place to give up on things, and right here and now is the time to give up worrying about anything. Worry is counterproductive and doesn’t change anything except how we feel. I’m giving up today and I invite you to join me.

Perspective

I’m reading Learning Joy from Dogs Without Collars by Lauralee Summer. As she is sharing her experience at Harvard, she introduces us to one of her roommates, Maggie. She describes Maggie as 5’10” tall and 165 lbs of muscle, and as someone who always wished she were small. Maggie sees the impracticality and inconvenience of her size where Lauralee sees something entirely different.

Lauralee talks about how when she and Maggie are in their tiny bedroom it seems that entire room has to shift imperceptibly to accommodate Maggie’s every gesture. Whether she is scooting her chair back from the desk or just stretching her arms, her every gesture has impact. And that’s what Lauralee sees and would love to have herself.

Most of us mirror this in our own lives. We see the difficulties, inconveniences and things we just don’t like as annoying hindrances. But as we create a new mindset we start to see these things as gifts, benefits and opportunities. If you can’t do it yourself right now, just ask someone else. Just as Lauralee could see the great impact Maggie can have, so your friends will have a different perspective on you.