On Why I Give Up

There are so many quotes on how you should never, ever, ever, give up.

There are some things you should never give up on--your family, your faith, your friends, your husband, your wife, your kids, your education.

However, giving up is not always a bad thing. I try to make a habit of giving up every once in a while.

Some of you may be saying: "WHY would you WANT to give up; plan to give up? You need to stick with your goals! Your dreams, your aspirations!"

To that, I respond: My dreams, goals, and aspirations are the reason I give up.

I give up the opportunity to do fun things so I can stay in and study. I give up clothes that aren't modest so I can show respect to myself and to God. I give up time to go to church. I give up comfort when I exercise so I can stay healthy. I give up money to pay for schooling. I give up a cheerful mood to spend time with a friend who may need someone to mourn with them. I'll give up sleep to go to early-morning clinicals. I'll give up my off-track to continue through nursing school. None of this is easy.

Giving up is not always a bad thing.

In order to realize our goals for the future, we need to do hard things. We'll have to say no to something we want now because we know that doing so will help us gain something more important.

We don't want our dreams to remain dreams--we want them to become a reality.

Giving up is hard. The comfortable--what we're used to, what we like, enjoy, or care about--is not something of which we want to let go. However, if our hands are full of quarters, how can we reach out and grab hold of a $100 bill?

It's hard to see with a broader perspective, to have the knowledge that you will be better because you gave up. It's a leap of faith, but the more you do it, the more you'll know it's the right thing to do.