60 Seconds (14)

THE HONOR OF WANTING TO QUIT

A young college student, in his freshman year, was struggling with a course in French. He was so discouraged that he wrote home to his parents expressing his temptation to drop out of school. His dad sent him a poster of a young man, around nineteen years of age, in his football uniform. He was sitting dejectedly at the far end of the bench, covered with mud, his hair disheveled, and his face buried in his hands. The caption reads, “I Quit.” Elihu Root said, “Men do not fail; they give up trying.”

Here are some thoughts about “The Honor Of Wanting To Quit,” then some input on “How Not To Quit.” First, the reasons for this title, “The Honor Of Wanting To Quit.”

· Wanting to quit is a sign of success, because only successful people can quit.

· The more you have to quit, the more you want to quit. Samuel Johnson declared, “Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.”

· You can enjoy the luxury of wanting to quit if you know you’re not going to quit. Wanting to quit, and actually quitting are not the same.

· Quitting is really changing. Sometimes we all need a change, but don’t quit on an unfinished task, calling it change.

Second, “How Not To Quit.”

· Burn the bridges behind you. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “To reach the port of heaven we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against – but we must sail, not drift or lie at anchor.”

· Don’t expose yourself to what you do not want to be. Ten years from now you will be what you read, view, and listen to via the media, and the people you associate with. Albert Einstein warned, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

· Don’t tell anyone you want to quit, when you want to quit (except for a close trusted friend, and, even then, be cautious).

· Lock yourself in so you can’t quit. Have a fixed and determined spirit. Great people are just ordinary people who just don’t quit. Marylin vos Savant stated, “Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.”

Now, for the rest of the story. I began with the illustration about the poster showing a young football player, despondent and defeated, with the caption, “I Quit.” However, down on the bottom of the poster is a little picture of a black hill outside of Jerusalem, with a very crude cross, and next to it these words, “I didn’t!”

Dave Arnold, Pastor, Gulf Coast Worship Center, New Port Richey, Florida
www.davidarnoldonline.org

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©