Tip: Don’t you quit!
From time to time we all have extremely difficult days which can sometimes turn into weeks, months, and even years. Sadly, some people give up and quit when things become too difficult, and that is unfortunate. I want to share with you some quotes and concepts that have helped me when my life gets hard and I am tempted to quit.
Walt Disney once said that the difference between winning and losing is most often found in not quitting. Most people think that he was always incredibly successful. The truth of the matter is that he failed in business several times and had a couple of nervous breakdowns along the way. But we don’t remember Walt Disney for his failures, do we? We remember him for his successes. It is hard to even say, “Disney World” or “Disneyland” without smiling.
My daughter Rachael once said, “Dad, you can’t defeat a person who won’t quit!” I have watched her keep going with determination, regardless of the obstacles she has faced in her life. She is just like the Energizer Bunny and has been a real inspiration to me as she keeps on going and going and going. She practices what she preaches.
Someone once said, “Successful people are failures who simply would not quit.” That concept goes back to my original statement I mentioned that we all face failure from time to time. The secret is to not let our failures defeat us, but rather we should learn from them and allow them to become our best teachers. Remember, the events of life do not happen TO YOU, they happen FOR YOU! Our attitude should be, “keep on keeping on.”
The only time that you can honestly say that a person is defeated is when they give up and quit. And, if you stop and think about it, that is what happens to us at the end of life. Our body just cannot go any longer, so it quits. It stops. Life ends. That is what we call death. Even that word is a difficult concept for us to grasp, but it is as certain as life itself. That is not said in a morbid way; it helps us recognize that the time will come when ultimately, we do quit; therefore, we should do everything in our power to keep going in the meantime. We need to be active participants in life, not simply passive observers. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Most people die at 25, but they are not buried until they are 75.” That, to me, is very sad. Personally, I do not want to die until I am actually dead – if you know what I mean!
I believe, in order to stay actively involved in life we must have goals and dreams bigger than ourselves. We must continually strive to be better and do better. We cannot simply focus on ourselves and our own challenges. All that will produce is small thinking and depression. George Elliott once said, “It is never too late to become the person you might have been.” I like that because it gives us hope to stay on the journey of life.
I want to finish this week’s Tip with a poem that I have shared before, but it so eloquently illustrates my point that I believe it bears repeating. The author is unknown.
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 you quit.
Life is odd with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has 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 tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
I hope these thoughts will keep you on the journey toward success and happiness this week and in the days ahead. I know they work for me and I trust they will for you as well!
Tip: Don’t you quit!
Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm
