Failure is temporary but quitting is permanent
No matter what happens to you, someone has to endure a far greater trial. As a friend says, ‘Show me a person without a pair of branded sneakers, and I’ll introduce to you a person in a depressed area with no feet.’
To a growing number of people, the “I quit” syndrome is a virus that attacks with regularity. This virus gets aggressive when you go through setbacks or crises — big or small — in your personal and professional lives. It puts your families, friends, jobs and businesses on some level of danger. Those affected with this recurring illness go through persistent psychological stress and possibly temporary physical inertia that pillage the joy of living, the hope for uninterrupted “rush and gush” to a more enjoyable existence, the determination to get moving and, at the extreme, the will to live.
The climate change that ruins your summer plans, the imminent health concerns, the non-stop political bickering that gets more heated by the day, endless traffic, experiments and road repairs, frequent bickering of people elected in Congress, the increasing unemployment rate, rising population, and deteriorating family relationships are just a few of the things that suck the life out of those of you who may now be wallowing in a world of growing doubt and distrust.
So what do you do? Give up in the face of all the frustration, fatigue and sense of failure? Or remain a cockeyed optimist, see the bigger picture, and continue to search and hopefully discover the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? If you ask me, I would opt to fight the fight. Shake off the dust and dash, take patience, persevere and continue to be professional in what you do, and prevent the “I quit” disorder from taking over.
• By sticking to your guns you claim your own destiny.
You cannot be the proverbial Juan Tamad sitting around waiting for the fruit to fall into your mouth. Forget about bemoaning your “bad fate.” Life has more to do with how you deal with a “moment of truth” than what the “moment of truth” is. You may have friends turning their backs on you or business partners running away with company money. Sickness or disease may try to incapacitate you. Your riches could turn to rags with one phone call or stroke of a pen. They sound like plots in a primetime teleserye, but these happen. Things may not go your way, and you are challenged to take charge of the situation and work to revert it. Kismet doesn’t just happen to the fortunate — it happens to those who move with determination.
• Possibility comes with perseverance.
Nurture it. You must not give up even when you’re told you’ll never make it. Nobody has the right to tell you that. Turn that into a challenge to chase your dreams. The pessimism of others can dampen your spirit and deflate your optimism. Move around people with infectious optimism instead. Don’t let failures send you home with your tail between your legs. There are no impossible dreams, only people who do not have the drive to search for the silver lining.
• You are entitled to commit mistakes, but you are strongly urged to avoid the same mistakes again and again.
Learn the lessons from what you have done. It would be best to patiently write down the lessons picked up from every failure, and from there, take one step at a time to continue the interrupted journey.
• No matter what happens to you, someone has to endure a far greater trial.
As a friend says, “Show me a person without a pair of branded sneakers, and I’ll introduce to you a person in a depressed area with no feet. Identify me a country forever threatened by coups, and I’ll remind you of war-ravaged Aleppo, Syria. Name me a government employee who hates getting up every day at five in the morning, five days a week to report for work, and I’ll lead you to a young adult who would give his soul if it meant being able to sit up from his bed of his free will.”
• Training your energies towards positive thoughts and deeds is undoubtedly challenging.
Why put your already frayed nerves to a more serious test when not-so-good occurrences are around you? Why dwell on the negatives that can only attract other jaundiced, gloomy consequences? Actively filter out the cheerless and dispiriting stuff you’re exposed to. Extrajudicial killings, crimes and illegal drugs happen. Graft and corruption occur all over. Factories close down. People lose their jobs, dangerous viruses spread and global warming accelerates. But if you carefully look around and scrutinize, you may agree that more good is happening to you than bad. Tune out at some point, turn off the unconstructive thoughts and plug into positive reflections that bring hope and aspiration for a more respectable life.
• Rejection should not be looked at as a stonewall but a steppingstone that can bring you to greater heights.
Respond to rejection with renewed resolve. Don’t allow rejection to put you in paralysis mode. Instead, use it as a platform to prompt you to strive even harder toward your goals. You can counter disappointments with a strategic and creative roadmap for success. Harness the power of shouting, “Yes, I can” each time you start a new endeavor. Conquer your fears and insecurities, as you reassure and support yourself that you can surmount the challenges you confront now and will be confronting in the future.
• Raising the bar of professionalism should be your weapon to achieve your goals.
And as you achieve them, don’t rest on your victories. Up the ante, set the standards higher and aim for greater successes. Life is an unending journey of hurdles, but also of fruitful completions. You get better and better as you fail. But when you fail, fail fast, learn from the failure, pick up the broken pieces, succeed, and succeed some more. Make a resolve to patiently persevere towards your dreams and develop the professionalism that will turn them into reality.
• You are defined by your uniqueness; love yourself.
Celebrate who you are — a diverse individual with the ability and passion to think, act and live, as you want it. Of course, you’ve had moments of tears and joy, triumphs and defeats, but no one can rob you of the free will to avoid sadness, dread and negativity, and lead your life to happiness, passion and positivity. The easiest mistake to make is to lose sight of your goal. Failure is temporary, but quitting is permanent. Choose wisely.
I end this column with this encouraging piece from an anonymous author who pushes you to never, ever get fed up with life and quit. Truly, you’re never considered a loser until you quit trying.
“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit, rest, if you must — but don’t quit.
“Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns, and many a failure turns about, when low might have won had he stuck it out; don’t give up, though the pace seems slow — you might succeed with another blow.
“Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man. Often the struggle was given up, when he might have captured the victor’s cup, and he learned too late, when the night slipped down how close he was to the golden crown.
“Success is failure turned inside out — the silver that lines the clouds of doubt — and you never can tell how close you are. It may be near when it seems afar, so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit. It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.”
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