Don’t give up.
How many times have you heard those words? I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard or said them, but I know it’s plenty. Usually people won’t say when you’re just trying to tie your shoes “Hey, don’t give up!” unless you really struggle with tying your shoes. So most of the time when you hear it, it’s because you’re trying to do something you don’t think you can do. If it were easy, there’d be no need to say it.
In contrast, the times we say “Don’t give up” are when we see someone going through something we’re pretty sure they can do, it’s just they don’t see it. Or believe it. Sometimes they’re not even trying to succeed, they’re just going through the motions in hopes that some day they will be able to just stop.
It really hurts me when I see people struggling, and I know what they’re going through. It hurts even more if they’re struggling with something I’ve already been through and conquered. Why must they struggle when really, the path they need to go is plain and simple, and will get them where they need to go if they stick with it long enough. Sometimes all it takes is someone telling them “Don’t give up, you’ll get there, you’re heading in the right direction.”
If you’ve heard me say this recently, please don’t see it as patronizing. You couldn’t imagine the pain and hardships I’ve gone through, and yet I’m not dismissing what you’re going through. I know it’s hard. I know it’s not the end of the world, and I know there are much harder things we could be dealing with.
It’s hard, yes. But it is finite. There is an end to it, if only you’ll look up and place one foot in front of the other. Don’t look back; keep moving forward.
And above all, don’t give up.
