Harriet Beecher Stowe
The giving up spot should always be in a place of power, where thoughts are stable and the reasons for jumping ship outnumber the ones for standing firmly in place. A location of panic or pity is not a sensible spot to make choices that'll affect the quality and direction of your life. Decisions made during crisis are often the wrong ones, because of all the negative emotions and thoughts that attack at such times.
There's a time for giving up on some things, but to end something in the midst of high drama just exacerbates the problems to a level that often leaves us no turning back spot once reason returns. I try not to over-react. If negatives attack I go for a walk or perform a mindless task and direct my concentration there as if my life depended upon the scenery I pass or the dust bunnies I chase. The quality of my life depends upon my staying firmly in control of self, especially when everything around me teeters on the brink of madness.
I have an aversion to giving up, thinking that one more day... or hour... or minute just might finally earn me a victory. In life failures are so easy, all you have to do is nothing and they fall into your lap. Successes are hard, sometimes brutally so... but that's what makes them so sweet. Dreams lived are the most beautiful things life has to offer, but they don't come free of cost. Imagining something doesn't give it breath. A spark won't start a fire if there's nothing there to ignite.
Gathering the ingredients for a healthy blaze isn't always an easy thing. Life can be a cold place and the landscape is often barren, but to willingly lay down and freeze is unconceivable to me. If there's nothing to build on where you are, walking in circles won't make magic. Move on to someplace that offers more in the way of likely fuel, and build a fire you can sit beside in comfort. Once it blazes bright, glance sideways and say hello. :)
THINK ABOUT IT... LET IT RIDE... THEN YOU DECIDE!!!
© GLENDA ALEXANDER 6/11/06
