Make A Choice: To Give Up Or Not To Give Up?

Today, I have a new question for you (that you know I will answer myself sooner or later, but hey, it's worth a read, I promise). While doing a task, would you give up or stick to your work no matter what?
Would you rather choose to follow your goals or continue with what you thought was ideal for you and were wrong?

Practically speaking, it's a tough choice, where most people would suggest you the ideal saying- never give up. You will find a way to your goal if you don't ever give up. Ask me, there is no worse an advice than this. When you are not on the receiving side of this advice, it seems like a cakewalk. Trust me, it isn't.

Storytime, as always! Anaya woke up on a Monday morning to follow the routine that she had been following since the last few years. Breakfast by 7 o'clock, she would get ready by 7:30, drive to her office and reach there by 9, lunch at 2 p.m. The work at the office would continue till 5 p.m after which she would drive back home by 6:30 p.m.

After resting for a while, she would prepare some dinner and eat it at 8 p.m. She would then switch on her laptop to see what assignments were to be done. Completing all incomplete assignments, she would go to bed by 12 a.m.

Anaya won't agree with me if I said she had an ideal job, at least something that people like me would want, even though it seems boring. It pays well and there is a fixed duration to work. It's fine if she doesn't agree with me, after all, she was the one who had to work. It was her decision, her choice of life goals.

She didn't want to continue with her job. It demanded her to work under tremendous pressure. She realized it wasn't for her. She wanted to resign. With sufficient savings in her hand, she wished to go on a world tour and then work for a smaller company with lesser work pressure after she would come back. The only things that would keep her back were the thoughts like, “What if things do not happen the way I want?” “What if because of some mishap, I find I do not have enough money to survive in future?” “What if things aren't as easy as they seem to be in my head?” “What if I still don't give up?” “Maybe my job will not be taking a toll on me after a few days like it is now? Maybe, just maybe it is a matter of a few days?”

Days passed by, then months, then years. “Maybe this work pressure is only for a few more weeks?” Anaya thought for the thousandth time. Another few weeks passed by. The thought did not change.

One fine day, Anaya decided to quit the job. “Enough of this.” she handed in the resignation letter to her boss and started traveling. Visiting the different parts of the world, she couldn't help but think why she didn't quit her job- the job she knew wasn't for her- earlier.

How did she feel that the job she despised would just get better on its own? That she will get used to it and find her life goal there? She now knew, how “will do it one day” is a sugar-coated phrase for “maybe never” that we so commonly assure ourselves with. She now knew, how “never give up what you are doing” isn't always the advice you would find helpful.

Maybe quitting some things make life easier. Maybe letting go of certain things reduces problems. Maybe trying something else brings in success. Maybe trying the same thing in another way helps. Maybe failure isn't always in continuing to do what you are already doing. Just maybe.

See, I narrated a story, like I always do, and there is a clear message. Now, I didn't mean that you should give up on your work at any moment because you faced failure once. It's like, you have halfway dug the ground to get a treasure trove, but you give up just because you are impatient. No. Don't do it. And don't leave your job just because someone said traveling is better than your job. Don't halfway leave things just for a change.

Following a given routine is not a bad thing. Keeping a consistency in your daily life isn't wrong. Some people like me would consider a consistent life to be ideal, too. Others, like Anaya, consider lots of adventures to be their life goal.

Pay heed to your life goal. Work hard enough to get it. Know how you will achieve that goal, which paths you can follow, and what if it doesn't work out? So that when things don't happen the way you wished, you know what your next step has to be. So that you know when to work harder. When you need to toil like someone is there ready to snatch away your goal from you. Also, when you know when something isn't for you and switching over to something else is fine. When giving up is okay. When the energy you put into it exceeds the happiness of achieving the goal.

You need to know what you are working for, and exactly how much energy it needs to reach there, and whether you are determined enough to work for it no matter how many times you fail. When you know that there is something else that you can do to get your goal if you once quit this. That you aren't quitting just because you are fed up with working hard, but because you still want to get your goal, through a different path.

There are days when giving up is important. There are days when sticking to a task is much needed. It is you who choose things to be a certain way. As easy as it seems, it isn't so. Choose wisely.

Keep Smiling!😊

Hey everyone! I am back with a new post. I hope you like it. Feedbacks and suggestions are welcome. You can send me emails at saimasohail.officially@gmail.com

Author: Saima Sohail

About the author: A student, who likes to write in her free time. Expressing her views and talking about her experiences in studies, and life values, in general, are all that she does when she writes.

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