5 SOLID WAYS TO AVOID QUITTING ON YOURSELF

Don’t You Dare Quit!!

Don’t you quit!!

When things get tough the first line of defense is to quit and move on to new endeavors.  This can be especially bad if it means you are quitting on your dreams and on yourself.  

I’m sitting here looking at a blank computer screen wondering if this blog is worth it.  We’ve given 3½ years trying to inspire and motivate our Boomer audience, to enrich their lives based on all the worldly experiences we’ve encountered along our journey.  

But now it seems we’ve hit a wall.  Our readership has declined for what reason we do not know.  

In the early days of our blog, we hired a young web designer who was responsible for setting up our site and hard coding those aspects of the website that needed it.  

He vanished into the wind.  

Since then, we have put out many feelers looking for help, but to no avail.  We’ve taken many courses and spent countless $$$ and hours only to find out the “experts” will tell you the “what,” but not the “how.”  The how to get you where you need to go.  

So, if anyone reading this knows of anyone who hires themselves out as a web consultant with expertise in WordPress and social media please send HELP!  

We’re not stupid people.  My BoomerGuy was a corporate CEO and I still do interior design.  We have skills, just not all the technical aspects of blogging, social media and web design.

So, with all that as a backdrop, do you think we should quit.  NO!!!!  WE WILL NOT QUIT!!!!  EVER!!!! 

The reason we do this, 

“it is the most satisfying thing in life to have been able 

to give a large part of one’s self to others”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I have been out and about over the past several days and noticed people I encounter feeling hopeless and in a funk.  They are melancholy and saddened, and unfortunately that seems to be a common thread these days.  People of all ages  have openly admitted they are lost and ready to give up—quit.  

But you can’t.  Life is too precious to not experience all the good it has to offer.  Trust me, I’ve been there in that funk and it’s a hopeless feeling.  No end in sight with no solutions on the horizon.  But I held fast to my dreams and reached deep down inside me for that last morsel of HOPE.  

During that journey to my depths of despair, I found this poem by Edgar Albert Guest that helped me rise to new levels of optimism and HOPE.  

“When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems uphill,

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,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us must learn,

And many a failure comes about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 

And you can never tell just how close you are,

It may be near, though it seems so far;

So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when thing seem the worst that you musn’t quit.”

We all feel like walking away from issues and things that are hard or seemingly unsolvable.  We’ve had many ebbs and tides in our lives, but we must not quit and let the bad guys win.  There’s always a solution, or as I’ve found, several small solutions and ideas to a single problem.

Here are 5 tips I have found that work for me in removing the word “quit” from my vocabulary and thinking.  

ACKNOWLEDGE IT BABY.  This step alone will help create distance as you give the funk some airtime and remember, that it does not define you.  It’s just a moment in time, a passing state.

WRITE ABOUT IT.  Like I’m doing now.  Journaling about your feelings, trust me it helps.  Work it out, if you’re not into writing do a hobby, dance or exercise to some upbeat music, garden (dig in the dirt), just spend time outside enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer or meditate with silent prayers.  It will definitely change your funk that you may be feeling.

DEFINE THE PROBLEM.  It’s not yours to keep.  We all have problems or things that may not be perfect.  It’s life.  I use a rule of having several solutions to every issue that pops up in our lives. Many ways to tackle the problem head on.  You would be amazed how much better you’ll feel.  

CONNECT WITH LOVED ONES OR A GREAT FRIEND.  It can be tempting to isolate yourself when you feel the funk creeping into your life.  Connecting with others will help you share, laugh and distance you from the external problems.  In addition, they might just be ones to help with solutions to your burdens.

WRITE A GRATITUDE LIST.  At first you may struggle with something to be grateful for, especially when you’re in the dark, and the light is just not turning on.  It lets you think of and seek out things and paths of your life that are good.  You will be amazed how easy it is to grow your list once you start.  

I start each and every day with a view toward what I have to be thankful for, even during the really tough times, and we’ve had our share.  

I just heard a columnist on television—

He said, “we are starving for something or anything optimistic in our lives.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, 

nothing can be done without hope.”

Helen Keller

If you want an inspirational story to help you get out of your funk, you need to read Helen Keller’s story.

On our homepage we are listing all the celebrations June has to offer, along with a number of awareness causes.  Linking up with one or more of these activities will most certainly help you heal the wounds of hopelessness.

We are as RELEVANT today as we were when we were younger and will stay RELEVANT throughout our lives.  Don’t let anyone tell you differently.  

Your Number One BoomerGal, Connie.