I Give Up!

 

I only really have two inborn gifts.  One is that I have a knack for patterns.  The other is that I’m unable to give up on anything.

 

That second one isn’t necessarily a good thing.  I know that lots of famous people have said “Never give up.”  I heard Sir George Solti say it one time and it was very inspiring coming from the mouth of an octogenarian Hungarian genius conductor.

 

Sometimes, though, you really want to give up.  Sometimes it’s the best thing to do.  In fact, here’s why I think that sometimes it’s better than succeeding.

 

I’ve found that it’s only in the moment that I have given up that I receive something unexpected.  So many times I’ve tried and tried until finally I said, “That’s it…I’ll never…”  That moment, when I am empty and despairing, things began to change.

 

But wait… I told you I’m unable to give up.  Well, I’m human, so I do despair, and that’s pretty much the same thing.  It’s just that after I give up, I change my mind.

 

I don’t do it on purpose.  I’m not trying to trick the universe.  I really think I’m quitting when I give up.

 

Then I get up a few days later and I find the towel I threw in and it looks different.  I pick it up.  I go back to work.

 

I want to recommend this to you.  Go ahead and give up.  Despair, shake your fists and hang your head, let your dream go.

 

Then, after you’ve done whatever it is you do when you’re mourning, after the air really clears, after you’ve legitimately abandoned your hopes, go back to them and see if there’s anything to pick up.

 

Maybe this strategy won’t work for you.  Maybe you’re too scared to give up because you think you won’t ever come back.  I suggest that fear is in your way.

 

Maybe you have no desire to give up, and you’re stuck and you can’t move forward.  Okay, don’t give up.  But for crying out loud, let it go for awhile.

 

Giving up temporarily is a kind of spiritual rest, a surrender, even a trust.  It’s worth cultivating the talent.  It’s the other side of the coin from “Don’t give up,” and is every bit as important.

 

Lose the battle.  Win the war.  (Give it up and tell me what you think.)