SPARTAN SERIES #206: “PROMISE YOURSELF YOU WILL NEVER GIVE UP!”

Sometimes we need a safe place to make our vows. All of us has a “secret place” where all of life’s challenges are hashed out with no audience. When we were kids it could be as simple as going to our rooms to mull over a decision. To be sad, to be in the argument alone until we decide. As we have gotten older that quiet place has shifted out of necessity for greater privacy our of sight and insulated from any self talk and groaning that will accompany our personal wrestling match.

Probably, the most sacred place to be alone is when we are introduced to our other self . That person that refuses to be placed on the sidelines when times get tough. This place could be a country road, a grove of trees, the shore of a nearby pond or lake, but it must be private. The ultimate decision all of us must face is to ‘NEVER GIVE UP!” There are hundreds of moments when things don’t go very well and we hurt more than we thought we could ever endure. We have to stop, get alone and decide to ‘NEVER ALLOW OURSELVES TO GIVE UP AND TO BE FORGOTTEN.”

I know that in bodybuilding we are constantly comparing our bodies with others in the gym and in public but mostly on stage. I have personally experienced being crushed by the competition. I go home and I wrestle with whether I want to go back for a second helping of personal defeat and public humiliation. I take my own medicine and retreat to our balcony off our bedroom. I stay there until I get a clear path forward. The process is slow, painful, and ugly. But once I have decided to not give up– – –I don’t! I say, “This sh— is never going to happen again. “ From here I plan and I assess my damage and I set about the tasks to correct deficiencies and to build on my strengths. This time when I decide to not give up, I leave nothing to chance.

Each of us has the capacity to overcome defeat, self-doubt, and self inflicted annihilation. All we have to do is decide that we are not to going to give up. Giving up is tantamount to quitting. You can’t win if you stepped off the track because you gave up where you quit. This decision to not give up is one thing, failing is another thing—-but quitting is quite another.

Bottom Line: winning and failure are two sides of the same coin. But when you quit or give up you have surrendered yourself to a world that is laced with the regret.

My Final bit of advice is when you feel like quitting,—- get alone and be certain you come on that room determined tot NEVER EVER AGAIN!

Communication is the essence of life so talk to yourself like a winner and not a quitter!