Don't You Quit!

“A man who has nothing to die for is not fit to live.”

—Martin Luther

You sat in that secret corner of your room. You felt the bubbles of excitement in your pumping machine (your heart) because an idea that will change the course of your life is replaying itself every three seconds between your ears. So full of life, you took a pen and a notebook, putting down your great idea in black and white. You set a target for yourself, a deadline and a date. You were so excited because of your dreams. And out you go with made plans and a determination to succeed.

After so many attempts, you seem to realize that things are not what you think they are. You realize that just like there are two sides to a coin, same with life. Simply because life has tossed challenges, which you call failures, your way, you chose to join the crew that believes every set plan is nothing but some alphabets and figures written on blank pages. More to say, you accepted the wrong notion that all doors leading to your success are shut, that the world won’t see your dreams. And you decided to quit, abandoning your quest. You actually conceded to the word “defeat.” You said to your despairing heart “ I am a failure.”

Of course you are right to have felt that way but before you tumble into a world of nightmares, before you cease to breathe life into your ideas, before you start seeing your-burnt-out-self depending on the monthly pay for the unemployed from Uncle Sam, lets go over a couple of ifs.

If Abraham Lincoln gave up so soon, he would not have been elected president of United States.

If Arnold Swazzenegger despaired after his first workout in the gym, he would not be the master of body builders. And he would not have been anywhere close to being the Governor of California State.

If Tim Berners Lee, the man who developed the World Wide Web, ended his career so soon because of disappointments, you would not now be surfing on the Internet. You would not be reading this either. Probably, electronics messaging would still remain in the horizon of the future.

If all great men, since the dawn of time, had given up so soon, where do you think civilization would be, back in the thirties or forties? Do you think you would have some weird country music, R and B and rap music on your disc man while on the train or bus? No! Everything would be back to the very beginning, millions of years before the birth of Ishmael and Isaac. One thing I know for sure, we would all be living comfortably –or uncomfortably, a negative word I rarely say—in caves, sharing authority with Simba, the Lion King. Our Mark and Spencer suits and fur coats would be replaced by some smelly animal skin dried in the sun. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? If you dare life that way, you can click your mouse and this page will vanish from your screen, never to be seen again. But if you don’t, then read on.

If you have chosen to read on, this is what I have to say.

Hold on to your dreams! Refuse to quit. Quitters never win and winners never quit. Take your time. Take a long walk. If you live in the city like me, take your long walk through city blocks. If you are in the countryside, you have a better advantage. Take the long walk through that vast field, befriending nature on the way.

Don’t just walk tucking your hands in your jacket pocket like a detective. No! Go over those plans of yours again and again as you walk. Rewrite if need be, there is great power in writing down. Don’t tell me you have a retentive memory. Write them down. You already have so much in your head, so write your dreams and plans down, paste it where you can see it everyday. Over the washing sink: beside that mirror, your restroom door. Paste it on your computer so you could see it as you chat with friends.

Then set out to bring it to past, ignoring those mountains, for mountains (which are your challenges) most times are made out of molehills and storms in teacups.

Tell yourself, “ I won’t quit until I get what I want. There is a YES behind every no and a solution to every pressing problem confronting me. I will find it.” Close your eyes, take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I have crossed the rubicon, and there’s no going back. I will either get a big hit with my plans or I will have to hang on longer than Abraham Lincoln.”

Say to yourself, “ I have gone too far from where I started from and I’m not giving up. Never!”

And as you seek your dreams with hands and feet unwearied by labors, remember that the dawn is not far in coming.