Greatest Life Lesson: Never Give Up

My dad said to my mom recently, “I’m not a quitter.” In fact, one of the greatest life lessons that I have learned is never to give up.  Yes, there have been many times that I have been tempted to give up, even giving up on life itself, but, thankfully, God has never let me. The power of perseverance and of God’s grace has brought me through very difficult times in my life.

One example of how I was able to persevere (even though I initially wanted to give up) was in my work  relationships with several people.  There was such a tension between those people and me that I wanted to switch departments or quit my job completely, just so I wouldn’t have to work with these people anymore. However, I believe that God, through a series of events, didn’t allow this to happen because He saw hope in these relationships, even through the hopelessness.  Thus, I was forced to find a way to cope with these people without losing my mind or my job! This helped me to persevere through the tough times in our relationships, and I’m happy to say that I was able to reconcile with them.  Our relationship, in some cases, has even gotten better than before I had problems with them!

Another example of how I was able to persevere is in my writing. I have been writing poetry since high school and college, but was only able to get a few things published.  Even before I started this particular blog, I have been writing things pretty consistently, only stopping for, at most, for a couple of months.  Now that I have a blog, I try to write articles at least twice a week.  As a result, I found that writing is something that I really enjoy and love.

However, there have been other times when I almost gave up completely, until someone encouraged me to persevere again.  For instance, because of several bad incidents with driving teachers, I became so discouraged that, after I got my license, I never drove again…until almost 15 years later. When I met my mentor J, she convinced me to persevere in driving again. With the support of my family and J, I was able to finally drive on my own with confidence.

Recently, I had a really tough day and considered quitting everything I believed in doing because I thought I would never be able to accomplish anything worthy again. (It was the depression talking.) However, when I came home from work, after a long, stressful day, I went online and saw a thoughtful forward a dear friend had sent me, encouraging me. The forward basically said I was beautiful in my heart, with my friend putting in the caption “This is you.” with a kiss emoticon beside it.  Thankfully, after I read this forward and with further encouragement from her, I was able to persevere again. I found renewed purpose and hope in my life, and I realized that I still could make a big difference in others’ lives, even though I may have failed many times before. I just had to not be a quitter!

I have also been inspired by others in my life that have persevered through their own trials.  For instance, even when many of my dad’s colleagues had quit working with one of my dad’s co-workers, my dad has continued working for him.  My dad has also demonstrated countless times to me that he will never give up on us, or on life.  That is something I aspire to follow every single day, in my own life.  Another example of other people in my life that have persevered is my friend Ted *(*Not his real name). There have been several people at my job who he feels did not appreciate him and wanted him to quit, but even through his personal trials in his life, he has always worked hard and persevered through all of this.

One of the things I have learned from these people’s perseverant attitudes is to be more patient in getting the desired results. Good results often take time to develop. For instance, one can’t be a good driver without at least some practice.  That is why we have driving schools.

Another thing I have learned from these people’s perseverant attitudes is that it is almost always worth it to persevere. Often, I have found that the greatest blessings and triumphs come after we have persevered through a trial and have refused to give up.

So, if you are going through a difficulty in your life right now, or if you are encountering obstacles to your God-given dreams, I encourage you to not give up. There is always hope, even when things seem bleak and hopeless! I know because I have lived through dark times, and have always found a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and many people in my life have, too.