Have you ever just wanted to quit something like a, job, activity, school, etc? I have, and have done it many times. I guess it’s one of my many faults and I tend to follow the path of least resistance sometime too often. It could be because of all the time I have spent in the military and around the military. You just can’t say, “I quit” when you are in the military. So in situations where I can quit I tend to exercise that option. This is my analogy and I’m sticking to it; I mean I’m trying to rationalize my behavior even though in some circumstances quitting may be the best options.
I’ve talked about leaving my dog activity after every team problem. It seems that people just have a very difficult time getting along when you are dealing with an emotional subject like dogs. Dog people tend to have very strong feelings about their dogs, and they should. After all, it takes some amount of work and training to get them running in any dog sport and emotions run high. Moreover, if you are participating in a team sport like Flyball, you just can’t run out and find new teammates very easily.
The Art of Quitting: When Enough Is Enough
This is the title of a book and you can see it on Amazon. Here is a brief synopsis…
Patience may be a virtue, but quitting is an art! The Art of Quitting is delicious food for thought for those bored with their jobs, in a tired relationship, sick of their apartment or simply overdue for a fresh breath of personal freedom. Don’t be fooled, quitting is a true art form! Mixing humor, cracker-barrel philosophy, and plain common sense, author Evan Harris offers realistic advice on more than twenty techniques for the easiest, most satisfying way to get out of virtually any nasty situation. Helpfully, we are instructed on such approaches as Make a Scene, Achieve and Vanish and Burn a Bridge. Quitters are stars in the universe of decision-making. Quitters take chances. Quitters decide for themselves when enough is enough. Perhaps you long to renounce the cage of middle management for the free and easy life of a painter in Tahiti. It could be that all classes you’d wanted to attend were full when you went to register. Or maybe you’ve suddenly realized that if you don’t break it off now, you’ll end up like so and so. Though it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, it is an undeniable truth: quitting can be the best decision you’ll ever make.
I haven’t read the book, mind you, but can quitting “be the best decision you’ll ever make?” I guess in some cases it can and I may just be a chance taker.
Taking a Chance
I went to vocational technical school to be an auto mechanic because I thought I liked working on cars. I was really good at it and have a mechanical mind. So I went to school and was recruited by a local auto repair shop. After about a year working at the shop, some local gas station mechanics lost their gas station and came to work at the shop where I worked.
These two guys were probably in their mid forties and very good mechanics. However, seeing them made something click in my head. Here I was just 19 or 20 years old and making a decent wage, but would I want to be doing this (working on cars and trucks) when I’m 40 or 50 years old? The answer turned out to be NO! No, I would not want to be doing this at that age.
Changing Directions
What was I to do? I had a family already, one very young daughter, and one on the way. I just couldn’t quit I was the sole provider, but I knew that I had taken the wrong path. The one good thing was that I was still young so I decided to join the Air Force.
You would have thought that world was coming to an end. My wife was very supportive, and if she hadn’t I don’t think I could have made the decision. My parents on the other hand … trying to find the words… thought I was crazy. You can’t do that you have a family to support. How will you handle the discipline, being away from your family, and possibly moving away? All good questions but I had to do what I thought was the best for my family and me, and I knew that I had to do this.
It turned out to be the best decision of my life. It turned my life completely around in a different directions. I attended college and now use my mechanical skills as a computer programmer.
Know When
Knowing when to change directions is the biggest question. Some times, it’s easy to know while at other times it’s a coin toss. I try to let my heart guide me and I’ve made many course corrections throughout my life, some good some not so good.
The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps. ~ Proverbs 16:9
