Don’t Quit
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 it’s twists and turns,
As every one 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 doubts,
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 things seem the worst that you mustn’t quit.~ Edgar Albert Guest
A poem titled ‘Don’t Quit’ by Edgar Albert Guest in the group Poetry for the Soul in Facebook
The poem ‘Don’t Quit’ by Edgar Albert Guest happened upon me when I was casually scrolling through the social media posts in the Facebook channel, a group called Poetry for the Soul displayed these above words set to a rhyme.
There, I was in early hours of morning being mesmerised by the words and the hope was a shivering little bird pursuing its belief in Spring’s turning seasonal tides, while in the present, it is surrounded by cold Winter storm.
I am one such storm caught bird where hardships have been innumerable, but I regret to have quit when the going got too hard to bear for me. Now, I am facing a new challenge in my life which seems to be hard and difficult to bear. These sudden summer shower of words on the nocturnal river of distraction caught my attention.
They were just 26 alphabets arranged to prise open the closed thinking mind. It seemed to tell me there is still hope if we don’t give up until the very end. To go on as if things were meant to be until we break into the clearing and open space. Life is not a calculation of profit and loss; but a battle of courage to face the unknown as if you know.
I am truly inspired by this poem. Inspiration comes from unexpected places. It is a sure indication that one must learn to be attentive to watch out for them. To not quit when the going get hard and to hang in there as if your life counts for the cause seems to be the illusive dream.
Yet don’t quit, maybe you are just close to the finish lines, while the constant bombardment of difficulties and hurdles may seem to indicate that you should quit immediately. But harken the weak heart and find the blood of bravery in your veins sending the heart it’s much needed oxygen of hope.
There are a lot of wise wisdom and quotes by our predecessor who traversed the path of difficulty before us who have warned and cautioned against and for holding calm during an upheaval of circumstances, faulty diagnosis of the issue, lacking clarity of thought accompanied by absence of presence of mind, et al., that truly brings down any high spirits for high accomplishment.
At those moments, when our invested interests are in deep danger from all those negativities that surround us, we need to pave the path ahead to swim against the flow of the river. Becoming the unsung heroes of the lore, it takes a lot more than just overcoming the hardship of new challenges with unpredictable elements in them.
Getting connected with our deeper and truer part of ourselves can bring clarity in thoughts. Sometime stepping away from the problem might be the best way to find a fix or sometimes, the problem didn’t need any fix in the first place. To go with the flow and navigate in such a way that your head is above the gushing rapids. That feat takes a lot of effort and the gumption to stick it out till the very end.
I have multiple dreams and every job that I took made me realise something important. Whenever, I quit my dreams. I would find myself a job or a new course to study to become a student again. There are two things that I understood crystal clear. You don’t have to be in an academy, or college to be learning or studying. Pursuing your initial dream is never too late and don’t quit them for a desk job, as you clock in the hours mindlessly. I feel that is not the way to go.
I have always thought of myself as an artist doing painting, writing poems, just being me. I never planned anything in my life. It took me a long time to find what I truly want to do in my life. It is to live my life to the fullest. Like the Maggie tomato sauce product’s ad jingle “It’s Different!” I know I am different from others; but I also knew that life wouldn’t be easy when you swim against upstream waters. The number of jobs and number of quits truly speaks for me not giving up my dream in the first place.
My mind works in circles, I go back to my first passion almost always inspired every time! I would tell myself this time it would be different for me, that I would find my calling. Sadly, I am heartbroken when I quit. I must say those jobs and courses were not quitting, it was me taking rest for a while before hitting the road again.
I am not surprised that I prefer my first choice to be an artist or a creator of something exceptional that marks me in the annals of my life story. What I lack is the dedication to my dream and unrelenting vigour to pursue it irrespective of the outcome. I wish someone who find my thoughts on my struggles in the ‘pursuit of my own happiness’ while making sure the other person who reads it also enjoyed and gained insight.
No life is wasted some time you just need to find your calling. If you do so at an early age, then the hardship and perseverance to hold on to that dream, however feeble it may beat in your heart, remember never to quit come what may! That calls for so much grit to go the stretch for your dreams.
For a short while I was lost, and I need to find my dormant dreams. When I did find them despite being totally dejected and lacking emotional strength then, I knew my dream was more than being a recognised author of books, but as someone who won’t give up on her dreams. I wish to be published in my lifetime, but if not maybe posthumous. But of late, I realised that I didn’t want to be published at all. I am content just to write and have a e-copy of it.
I reached a catch-22 situation in life when I failed all my held jobs, especially being in a family that believed in the 9-5 existence as the one and only route to independence. I believed that one had to live a life of passion and confidently pave the way of new understanding of all that you hold dear to yourself.
This was my premises for all my life’s choices. Sadly, as I aged, I knew it differently. My budding heart still feels that my passion is not for compromise. My dreams get in the way of society at large, the reason why I sometime remove posts from my blogsite. When one’s dream is to write and not to kowtow to norms and memorandum of assumed social principles that is when I rebel. When I rebel then it is to stop sharing my thoughts until I find a kindred-spirit who shares my thoughts.
Itinerant Storyteller 