When to Quit
I'm an overachiever. Yep, I own it. I'm not a quitter. I have prided myself on that my entire life until I realized I was hurting myself by hanging on to things that no longer made me happy.
While completing my own tidying journey (Setting Ourselves Free) I realized I was the family's memory keeper. Had anyone asked me to do this? No. Was anyone else interested in doing it? NO! After looking at 12 labeled photo albums (and this was before digital), I realized that 80% of the pictures weren't even good. After looking at tubs of labeled memorabilia in the garage, my daughter-in-law looked at me in horror and asked, "Am I inheriting this?" Why was I keeping all of this when my children didn't even care? I was killing myself to preserve too much of everyone's memories. I let it go. I went through 14 tubs of memorabilia and got it down to 2 filing cabinet drawers.
I worked for over a year to belong to a group of girlfriends in my hometown. These are lovely ladies but I was always on the fringe. They were quite nice to me at events but nobody contacted me in between. Every time I would be exposed to them, I always felt a sadness, knowing I really didn't belong in the group. Finally, I realized I had given this a good try. I gave them up. They are very nice but wasting my time trying to fit into their group was keeping me from finding my own tribe. I gave them up.
When you are finding yourself working against the grain, whether it is with an old habit or even a job, it is time to step back and take a look at what you are doing. WHY are you hanging with it? Are you afraid to give it up because it's familiar and you are afraid of the unfamiliar? Have you just never thought about moving onward? Analyze the reasons you are sticking with something and, folks, if it no longer serves your needs, quit it and let it go. Life is too short.
Things I've given up:
being the pleaser
being the fixer in the family
unrealistic expectations
fruitless relationships
justifying someone else's behavior
worrying about things I cannot change
living in the past
a behavior of lack
unworthiness, the word and the thought
fear
What have you given up? Until we quit clenching our fists, holding onto old beliefs and habits that no longer serve us, we are not giving the Universe the opportunity to fill our hands with lives of wonder. Think about that!
Until next time.....
