Quitting is for losers. Or quitting is unacceptable. We are big on not quitting. Except that so many people do quit, all the time. New Year’s Resolutions get abandoned all the time.
Which is why there are so many people saying “don’t quit” to encourage people that they can push through. Keep working out, get back on that diet, stick with that relationship. And usually they are right, the reward for sticking to it, for all that hard work, is worth it. Find your motivation and stay with it.
In general, we feel guilty when we quit something we set out to do. For avid readers, we have to reassure each other that sometimes it really is ok to quit a book, there isn’t enough time to read a book that isn’t working for you, let it go.
Take battling cancer as another example. Most people agree it should be about quality of life, not quantity of life. Although mothers with small children want quantity, too. And that makes perfect sense. So, we get on the chemo train. We search out alternative healing options. We fight. People tell us to keep up the fight.
But it is exhausting. It’s harder than it looks. And quality of life is a relative term. What some people would put up with to have another month is something other people see no reason to tolerate. And there is the fear of what happens when you get off the chemo train. How long will it take to get to the end? How much will it hurt? How can I watch my family and friends start crying at the thought that I’m quitting the fight?
Nothing about this cancer walk is easy. There are so many decisions about treatment options, changing treatment, handling side effects, dealing with unexpected obstructions and all those complications, and deciding when to call it quits and let God and nature take its course. Do I believe God is sovereign? Do I believe in heaven and eternal life? Do I believe in the resurrection? Is it time to act on what I believe?
