In Honors LIterature we are wrapping up Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex. Oedipus is a prime example of someone who had not an ounce of quit in him even though the dramatic irony of his quest for truth was, as the audience knows, his tragic end.
Quit is a verb used with an object or without an object. Its beginning is around the late 12th century(Anglo-Norman). It meant to exempt, free and clear. Today, quit means to stop, cease, or discontinue.
I humbly admit that I am tempted practically every day to quit...quit moving forward with my writing. People tell me not to quit, but when facing a lack of understanding and the realization that nobody wants to bother to "get it"-- or be interested in what I write, it is difficult to keep pressing on.
But then I remember---from Michael Jordan to Stephen King and countless others, quitting is the only way one can truly fail...they didn't quit, they didn't fail. King said of his numerous rejections of his manuscripts, On Writing, "the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing."
I've recently pondered possible reasons why I find myself butting up against feelings of discontinuing my efforts to write.
First. Sometimes the urge to give up is because of the army of unrealistic expectations confronting my progress. When a person is trying to accomplish something often it is accompanied by the pressure to comply and "fit" into others' expectations.
---Instead, I need to trust my own standards of what is best. Your life is like a seed and sometimes you're the only one who can imagine the type of tree.
Second. Sometimes the urge to give up is because I face possible rejection of my efforts. Emotionally, rejection is one of the worst feelings, it is debilitating and this fear promotes a constant state of mediocrity.
---Instead, I need to give it my best shot. Even failure allows a clarification of our goals and dreams.
Third. Sometimes the urge to give up is because I think it's easier to just stop. We find it harder than we thought, or the effort it takes is wearing and exhausting.
---Instead, I need to understand that anything worth doing, anything I want to learn, anything that is going to be a valuable future experience takes persistence and perseverance. Even the tender shoot of green has to endure the wind and rainstorms.
When it comes right down to it...I can't quit, if I tell others: "Don't quit." With young people I see how some are powerfully moved to the point of surrender. However, it is at this critical juncture when they must press on...I must press on. Even though the stages of learning and seeking confidence can be painful phases, it must be understood that somewhere under the weight of temporary despair one can truly find a way to get up and move on.
We have many examples of people enduring and not quitting even when all odds or circumstances seem dire and inescapable...think: Mr. Doug McKnight...there is no quit in him...he keeps fighting... for surrender is not an option.