When It's Time To, Quit

Has there been a moral lesson or message of a story that advises to quit? It seems unthinkable. 

Well, the folk ballad Gambler sang by Kenny Rogers says so. The lyrics goes: "You've got to know when to hold on, know when to fold on, know when to walk away, no when to run." 

There is just an instance in life's many battles when the better option is to quit and run. When the going is no longer a happy one, cease. 

Do you just toss from one turbulent strait to another, pass from yesterday’s failure to today’s, and carry nothing more than a tiresome existence every day? Then the only better way is to call off and cool down. 

So, what does that actually mean? Does it mean ending life, or to be blunt about it, committing suicide? 

Think about it. Doing a harakiri is not quitting, but insisting to solve the problem the wrong way. The one who takes his/her life still wants to wrestle with the same problem up to the last breath.

The gambler advises: "You never count your money, when your sitting at the table, there'll be time enough for counting when the dealing's done." 

To quit is to stop sitting at the table and have noting anymore of the dealing. It is to no longer respond to the challenge, just fold up, and walk away. 

Don’t think it is giving up life, or stopping to expect results. it is giving yourself a new leash on life, and expecting different results than the ones you no longer want.

I have had my share of bad luck, and times are when it just comes aplenty. I have had moments of defeat or fall when recovery was neither an option or possibility. In those times, anxiety often turns to fright over the thought that you're gonna stay there forever.

As frustration lapses into a slow choking depression, awakening jolts me: the default command called life ordering to beat it. How? Simple. Stop thinking of getting back. Quit striving to recover.

Sometimes you are pained by the feeling of being worthless, for not achieving something. But when you stop dwelling on your usual sense of achievement, you are actually paving the way to outcomes never thought of. You achieve things beyond expectation.

I have found out that in imminent defeat, the best luck comes with the option to fight no more. It may not be the great generals’ idea of brilliant strategy. But the purpose is to win yet in another battle by taking the quickest way out.

When the tide is turning against you, to abandon the battlefield is to fight yet in others. When the old beaten route is already full of obstructions and treacherous holes, get off. Reach your destiny via a different one. 

When you have lost track and the stars are no longer up there to guide you, when you no longer see the familiar skylines, and when you seem to be going farther and farther away from the old bearings, that is when you have arrived at a new haven.

After the fears, you open your eyes to a world never hitherto explored. And you stumble into the joy of experiencing new ways of living.

Delimit the possible. Set the sails towards the uncharted waters. It is when there are no other choices anymore that the only one you have must be the best choice. Quit picking.

The journey may be worthier than any destination. Embark on it and behold magnificent panoramas and horizons not shown before. Meet the fresh situations of existence.

Be not afraid to get lost. There is always a path where you find joy and happiness without setting goals or planning how to get there. The finest journey can be the one unplanned.