“Don’t give up now. Chances are, your best kiss, your hardest laugh, and your greatest days are still yet to come.” ~ Author Unknown
If there ever was a time not to give up, it is now. “Why?” You may ask. Because if you give up now, you will never know what might be waiting right around the corner. I know it seems so easy to say and so hard to do, but friends, you just can’t walk away when you are so close to the success of the dreams you’ve been working towards or the answers you’ve been praying for or the positions you’ve worked hard to create for yourself
Do not walk away because you are discouraged. Give it a bit more time. Good things take time. I have always loved the quote, “When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place.” (Author unknown)
I know that many people want assurances that what they have been working on will be rewarded in a big way. I hope for your sake it happens just as you have hoped, but in the interim, don’t wimp out, don’t give up and don’t get discouraged. Go the distance, do the work and take the necessary steps to make whatever dream you have a reality to the best of your ability.
Taking a small step is still a step in the right direction. You may be very close to finding an answer to the issue that you have been battling, but because at the present moment you can’t see it clearly, you are tempted to walk away. Don’t do it! Don’t give up now; stay the path just a bit longer.
“How much longer?” You may ask. I don’t know, because I do not know your situation, but I do know that you cannot give up just yet. It’s premature to walk away because if you still have an ounce of hope, you need to stay the course and keep working like it is going to happen.
Motivational speaker Brian Tracy says, “Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.”
And that is the key to success. Remember, “…your greatest days are still yet to come.”
I believe that there is a reason for things that come your way– to make you, to mold you, to break you. Some things might make you bitter, and some things make you better, but the most amazing thing is this: you get to choose the outcome of your attitude and actions.
Life may throw you a curve ball or even hit you with a foul ball that almost knocks you out, and perhaps even knocks you down, but don’t worry. Realize this fact, that once you hit rock bottom, it might very well be the solid foundation where you have needed to land to rest a bit and steady yourself, so you’ll be able to stand and then start the climb again.
There is a part of me that is a name it and claim it believer. I see no reason not to put what you want out there in the world and believe it will come back to you when you do your part, even if that means asking others for help. Now, I am not into begging, and I completely loathe the laziness of those who want a short cut because they think the world owes them something. No! No one owes you anything, and no one has to give you anything. It is by your good name and reputation that others might be willing to take a chance and help you, but if no one knows what you need, how do you expect them to help? So why not ask? You will never know who can and will step up if you will step out, but you have to have enough faith and belief in yourself to trust that when you step out, you will step onto something that will be strong enough to hold you. The simple fact is you know what you can handle, so do your part (and a little more), but for Pete’s sake, do something.
Now if you are too proud to ask, then you might not be ready for what comes next. Very few of us get to where we’re going by ourselves. When you achieve the success you have worked for, many times looking back you will see the hand of those who opened doors for you to walk through.
I have said this before, and I’m sure to say it again to you. I don’t want to see you in a few years looking back to today and realizing that you were just a few steps, a few doors, a few bases away from the dream you had been working on. What I don’t want to see is that due to your lack of faith and belief in yourself, you chose to walk away before the end was secured in your favor.
Let me push you in three directions today. You instinctively know these to be true, but let me remind you to
Have Faith, Work Hard, and Believe that it will come to pass at the right time. I know it seems froufrou to offer such well-worn typical advice, but what do you have to lose if my reminder today is what stands between you and the sweat and tears side of perseverance for your success.
Have faith. I love the quote, “Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.” (Author unknown) Unless you try every key, every option, every door you will not know what is on the other side. You must find the confidence within yourself to reach out and try the lock. And this quote by Louis Sachar sums it up well, “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that’s no reason to give up. You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.” Seems easy enough, yet the confidence of so many good people is slim to nothing at all when the going gets tough. You remember the line, if it were easy everyone would be doing it. But the truth is that it’s not easy, so you’ll need a bit of confidence, commitment and faithfulness to pull you through.
Work hard. This is a given, but you and I know a thousand people who will spend ten hours thinking and ten minutes doing, and then they complain that nothing ever gets done or gets done right. Don’t be that person… do the work. Karen Salmonsohn said, “You are an unfinished work in progress. One of the good things about life’s challenges: you get to find out that you’re capable of being far more than you ever thought possible.” She’s correct, “… your greatest days are still yet to come,” but they will only appear when you have prepared the ground for the planting of your hopes and dreams and then do the heavy lifting of watering, weeding and waiting for the crop to produce the results of your hard work. No abundant garden grows on its own; it needs a gardener who will till the soil for the harvest. Someone who is willing to get their hands dirty, break a sweat and do the hard work to reap the reward.
And finally, Believe. Richelle E. Goodrich said, “You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.” Wow! I love that quote. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness… I admit I am not a fan of the dark even as an adult. Maybe in the recesses of my mind, when I was a kid, my brothers scared the living daylights out of me one dark and stormy night, and so today, I am a nightlight kind of girl. [This is on my list bed light]
Without a doubt, it hurts when no one in your friends and family network seems to believe in you or your dreams. We all have people who should be on our side, but they say or insinuate the wrong-headed idea that we can’t do the thing we want to do. Just because they gave up on their dreams, doesn’t mean that you cannot live out yours. I am posting a great video by Casey Neistat called “Can’t.” (skip the ad and watch the video) Watch it over and over until you believe the message that there is nothing that you can’t do…if you’ll just believe. (BTW, I don’t endorse the few bad words or other things you might find offensive in the video. Just watch with an eye to the freedom of doing what others say you can’t.)
Please hear me. Stop listening to the naysayers, walk away from the negative voices and influences in your life. Seriously, kick them to the curb, and close your ears to the chatter of those who don’t want you to succeed because you magnify their sloppy, lazy and ridiculous ways, and they don’t like you because of it. It is hard enough to find a few loyal friends who believe in your dreams, so when you find them, hold on tight, love them deeply and nourish their dreams so you can grow successfully together.
Ah, friend, you might be so close to the answer that you have been praying for, working towards or creating, so please don’t give up now. “Chances are, your best kiss, your hardest laugh, and you greatest day are still yet to come.”
