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I hate quitting things.
OK, OK, I know what you might be thinking – of all the possible quirks a person could have, that one isn’t so bad.
And you’re right. But sometimes, my aversion to quitting things really holds me back.
Let me explain…
If you’re spending time on something – a relationship, a job, a book – that you don’t enjoy, you’re basically robbing yourself. You’re robbing yourself of time – time that you could be spending doing something that actually benefits you or brings you joy.
You're robbing yourself of time when you misuse it on things that don't bring you joy. Click To TweetFor example, I often start a book and even though I don’t really like it, I just keep reading it. I could seriously loathe every sentence on every page but I make myself read the whole thing just for the principal of not quitting.
I’ll just keep going under the guise of needing to ‘finish what I started’ but in the end, I’ll feel as though I just wasted my time.
But the truth is, not all books are made for all readers. If I would just put it down and move on to something that I actually enjoyed, I’d be a lot happier.
I suppose you could argue that forcing yourself to experience things you don’t like is a method for growth and well-roundedness. And in fact, I totally agree with that – to an extent.
But in my case, I think the number of times I’ve done that to myself has become excessive. I’ve passed growth and moved on to something closer to masochism.
Of course, not everyone has put themselves in difficult, ‘learning experience’ situations as much as I have. And I admit, there are absolutely times where people should stick with the hard things.
Just don’t lose your sense of self in the process.
Sometimes you should stick with hard things. Just don't lose your sense of self in the process. Click To TweetI’ll also concede that time spent learning a little more about yourself – what you like and what you don’t like – shouldn’t be called time wasted. Maybe in the cases I’m referring to we’ll just call it… a misuse of time.
Now, refusing to quit goes a lot deeper than just bad books.
I’ve misused time on bad relationships – not realizing until way too far down the road that we both deserved better. And of course, I’ve misused time on awful, ill-suited jobs.
Recently, I took bold action and left a job – ok two jobs – that were making me incredibly unhappy.
It was hard. I basically had a panic attack every time I thought about turning in my two week’s notice. But I knew deep down that it was important to stop misusing my time with something that brought me no joy (and honestly, very little money).
“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.”
― Roy T. Bennett
To some people, the notion of misusing time on books may not seem as important as time spent in bad jobs or bad relationships. But I think that’s the root of the problem – it’s the little things.
The little things you tolerate, the seemingly small inconveniences you allow, they compile your days. They add up to your life.
And if you misuse your time on one bad book after another, before you know it you’ve only read bad books all year.
Put that book down if you hate it.
End that relationship if they’re not the one.
And for goodness sakes, leave that job if it’s ruining your life.
“It’s such a shame to waste time. We always think we have so much of it.”
― Mitch Albom
Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it, and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one.”
― George Harrison
Thanks so much for reading. As always, I welcome your thoughts in the comments.
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So, so true, Malissa! Some people may judge that you’re quitting because things can get overwhelming, boring, etc. I agree that starting something and deciding that something else is better or nothing else is better for you, is the best feeling ever. 🙂
Absolutely! Not everything is for everyone. And it’s good to try new things, but it’s silly to box yourself in when you know it’s not right.
I really like the way you look at this. You are right, our time is valuable and wasting it on something we do not like or enjoy is really robbing us. I will keep this in mind because I hate quitting too, and waste plenty time forcing myself to the finish line
Yes! Sometimes that finish line just isn’t as important as we make it out to be.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment Natasha. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. I am similar in that I dislike quitting even when I know I’ll be happier doing something else.
Oh! I can relate with every word on this post. I have read a book (as well as movie adaptation) I completely hated. I wasted my time in a relationship that was going no where. I was in a profession that I loved but it invited stress in my life…I ended up hating myself and the job. But in the process I learned – Quitting is not a synonym of failure. Quitting can also be the beginning of something fruitful. Thanks for sharing it!
I love this post! I think it’s definitely something that a lot of people need to hear and I agree wholeheartedly. I remember I started reading a book that my friend left behind when she stayed over – I thought I would be educated and artsy for reading the book as it was quite quirky. I hated every minute of it. I only got one chapter in. I kept on attempting to read it and felt very frustrated with myself whenever I would struggle to enjoy it, but then I realised it was a waste of my time and I could be doing something else that i enjoyed more instead.
You seem very wise! I absolutely love your writing.
Time is definitely precious and we should use it wisely 🙂
Oh thank you so much Tina 🙂 that’s sweet. and I absolutely agree – Time IS precious!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment 🙂