Everyone keeps talking of the power of persistence and courage and dogged determination. It forms the subject of thousands of sagas.
The power of giving up is much less talked about, but very powerful and relevant. Forget superhuman stories, but there are many practical situations where it is humanly impossible to get what you desire. You can clearly see the conditions are unfavourable and there is no way you can turn it around. There may be huge roadblocks, or even mental blocks that cannot be tided over. And are beyond your control.
However painful it might be, the best course of action lots of times is to give up. Yes, simply give up.
People might point out the “sagas” of yore. Which would never have happened if people had given. up What is pertinent here is, one in a million turn into sagas and in the rest million minus one cases, not giving up affects your life negatively. For example, you might be hung up over one career move that you missed, causing you to miss many more (even better) opportunities that come your way. Because your mind is elsewhere. So,what is missed is the billions of success stories that happen only because people gave up when they had to. Or the ones that never started off because adamant people held on.
So, giving up is not being weak. It is not defeat. It is victory in the sense that it energises you and enables you to see ahead. It brings peace. It brings power. Giving up releases you from the clutches of lingering doubt and regrets and grudges in some cases. And “lingering” of course is a very dangerous word and a treacherous state - one you can do without.
So, next time, don’t hesitate to give up if the situation so demands.
However intense the initial hurt might be.
5 comments:
A really thought-provoking topic. And come to think of it, it really is difficult to give up at times. It takes a hell of a lot on your ego to say that you are not good enough at something or that you don't possess what it takes to achieve something.
But then more often than not, I hate that phrase "you should know what your limitations are". Do I really want to know what my limitations are? What if I am wrong about what I make out as my limitations? What if there was so much more that I could have unearthed had I persisted? Yes, there are "physical impossiblities", which we can define more precisely. But what are limitations?
Moreover, there is a lot of romanticism in trying to achieve something that you know is almost impossible. It, in itself, becomes a goal for the aimless - picking up something too difficult and trying to overpower it.
I am still more attracted by the premise of "persisting" than "giving up". It gives me hope, and hope is a great thing. You may call it an illusion instead of hope, but then I think that a mirage in the desert still makes a lost voyageur persist rather than giving up.
Yes.. that is the diametrically opposite school of thought. And intuitively the more appealing one. And as you said, teh basic premise on which this appeal is built in is the romanticism in persisting and the imagery of superhuman success stories that happen once in a while.
I don't say either way is wrong. To each his own.Taking cues from some incidents, just presented an alternate perspective to the generally accepted one. :)
Never give up on something that can still be achieved (however minute the probability). Some dreams are worth hanging onto.
But if it's an event thats already happened, then 'giving up' isn't really the right term for it. It's more like 'accepting the situation' or 'moving on'. Your advice is relevant in such cases.
I agree.
Sometimes, it takes more courage to give up on something (or someone) than to just hang in there.
@Ravi Bansal
I think its not about limitations and possiblities, but wisdom and prudence!
@Arslan
"It is the dreams that did not come true made me what I am today" :)
@Arslan : I had both situations in mind and I believe its relevant for both situations.
@Divinite : What? You agree? Really? Yipee! I'm honoured. Red Letter Day. :D
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