Here is something to be looked at: Sadly, not everyone is determined enough to persevere. WE tend to give-up as early as the first step. Upon seeing the coming storm, THEY will not move forward. Due to that, they had no chance to explore their abilities. They weren’t able to see where they can be and experience the success waiting for them. At the first strike of hindrance, they move backward, never looked back and not realizing that the first strike will give them enough strength to defeat the second strike and so on until they reach the end of the rainbow.
Just like the story of U R Darby, who stopped digging a mine because he wasn’t able to see the gold that he expected, not knowing that he is only three feet from the gold when he stopped. A junk man who persevered in digging and used his mind more clearly made it to the gold. It was a lesson learned for this man who was not able to reach the gold because he given-up easily. All through his life, he carried the lesson to persevere and that made him become a successful salesman.
Oftentimes we get discourage by situation, people, and other multiple factors that keep us away from the thing that we want. Some people just simply keep their eyes on the target and not recognizing anything that are trying to block their target. And that’s how they reach the bull’s eye. Focus is one of the tools to help us persevere in obtaining our long TERM goal. Giving-up may sound as a negative action but it can be related to perseverance. If we opt to give up it may not mean that we are quitting. Although it can also pertain to stopping, quitting and not persevering but it does not serve the same way in all situations. Sometimes we are reminded of our past failures, but instead of allowing it to weaken us; we can use it as a ladder to overcome the next obstacles. There are bad things or traits that we just don’t notice but can hinder us from becoming a better individual. Those traits should be given-up because they can serve as obstacles for us to persevere.
Self Application: Things we need to Give-Up in order to Move Forward
Examples of things that we should give-up are bad habits, negativity, discouragement, disbeliefs, bad influences, pride, lies, and other factors that can stop us from moving on and persevere. Giving-up on such things may lead us closer to the fulfillment of our desire. As we give-up we can easily focus to the techniques that can make us fulfill our dreams easily.
There was a young girl who wanted to finish college and managed to receive a scholarship to aid her education. One of the conditions of her scholarship was to maintain good grades to continue to enjoy the scholarship benefits. During her first few weeks in the university, she met several friends that are very pleasant towards her.
During her first few weeks in the university, she met several friends that were very pleasant towards her. After a grading period, the girl noticed that her grades turned low and if the situation continues like this; she might fail from the given scholarship.
She discerned her situation to check the areas that might need her special attention. She realized that one of the factors that might have caused her to have low grades is spending too much time with her friends and not with her studies. She decided to give up her time with her friends so she can focus more on her lessons and have higher grades. As a result of her perseverance, she graduated college with honors. She might have given up on the friendship that would have just lead her nowhere, yet she’s now enjoying good career earned from studying very well.
Giving up can indeed lead us to brighter results. It may be hard for us to give up the things and situations that we are used to but we must always remember our greater goals in life. Those goals may be a way for us to become more successful in life. Giving-up doesn’t mean that we are weak; on the other hand, it means that we are strong enough to give-up on something so we can persevere with the things that are more important to us.
Self Reflection:
- Write down your biggest goal.
- List the reasons why you want to achieve this goal. Why is this goal important to you?
- What’s the worst that will happen if you don’t reach your goal?
- What things do you need to give up in order to achieve this goal?