Are you ready to quit; to give up; to throw in the towel? Are you way beyond exhausted with what life’s thrown your way?
Every time I get to that point, I’m reminded of a lesson that was seared into my mind a very long time ago. I was young, maybe 11 or 12, when our family decided to go on a picnic with the family down the street. Their 7 and our 5 climbed into our two cars and we drove up toward Mt. Baker —a good size mountain in our corner of the Pacific Northwest.
It was a beautiful summer day when we arrived at the picnic area. After lunch one of the moms suggested that the dads take all the kids on a hike and they would stay back and clean up. I didn’t realize until I was much older what a genius plan that was. With one great idea, two moms just “bought” themselves a couple of peaceful hours sitting in the sun in a gorgeous spot ALL by themselves.
I’m sure they were smiling as their husbands and EIGHT kids tied their sweatshirts around their waists and began to trudge across the meadow toward the trail that wound around a small mountain. Now, I want to assure you, small is a relative word here . . . it was small in relation to the Cascade Mountains that were all around us, but HUGE to us. We kept walking and walking, winding our way around and around the mountain. I’m sure there was plenty of complaining as we kept plodding on. We were getting hotter and sweatier, and more tired with every step.
I’m sure that we had been at it for well over an hour when two of the older kids—the only boys—announced that they had had enough, and were—effective immediately—heading back down to the picnic area.
The rest of our little expedition, even the youngest ones, decided to keep going. We turned back to the trail and started around yet another bend. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Just 30 or 40 feet from where the “big boys” gave up, we found ourselves at a flat spot on the very top of the mountain. The view was incredible. We sat for awhile and rested and laughed that the boys had given up just steps from the goal.
Ever since then, when things have gotten hard and I desperately wanted to give up, I have always remembered that little adventure and asked myself, “What if the thing I’m yearning for is right around the next bend? What if we’re almost there? I’ll miss it if I give up now.” And I keep going.
I recently ran across a poem that echos that same idea. Although it was written nearly 100 years ago, it still serves as good reminder that it’s NEVER time to give up.
Don’t Quit
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,
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—
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,
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—
If you’re encouraged by this poem,
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