The True Story About Why We Give Up

It's one word, four letters. Rhymes with "mope."

I might as well be honest here--I am a pro at giving up on pretty much anything.

Like the blue ribbon champion.

Starting and stopping is pretty much my thing.

College dropout after three semesters.

Divorced at 22.

Several ill-fated direct sales businesses. Sorry DoTerra, Pampered Chef, and Chloe+Isabel.

A few poorly planned home businesses.

Countless diet and exercise plans.

Learning a new language.

Taking on an umpteenth new hobby.

Finishing any knitting project since becoming a mom.

A hundred million little everyday things I’ve meant to do but never actually made a habit.

Looking back on all of these failures, I think about the why behind every time we quit--since yes, I know I'm not the only quitter pro among us.

Is it really because we don't want ___________ bad enough? Is wanting anything ever even enough?

Nope. I'm a pretty firm believer that it doesn't matter how much we want something if we're missing one key ingredient:

Hope.

We don’t have enough hope.

Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. —The Hunger Games

Every time I’ve ever given up on anything, it’s because I no longer had hope about that situation. I could no longer believe my efforts would amount to anything. And I’d say that’s why most people give up.

Hope is greater than Ambition. And we’ve got more than enough of that.

We also have plenty of wishes and dreams. They’re nice and all, but they can’t get us anywhere.

Hope is a lot like synergy. It picks us up and carries us further when things get tough. It’s also what makes our dreams come to life in our heads long before we truly know if we’ve "got what it takes."

Hope is a badass. It’s people with hope who are the ones getting shit done.

Because hope says, "Even if this idea sounds crazy, it just might work. Stranger things have happened."

Hope sees a need in the would and says, "Why not me? I can do it."

Hope stares into the darkness, but tries to light a fire anyway.

Where does hope come from?

I'd say it comes from the inner belief that we're worthwhile. Special, even.

Mister Rogers was right.

There's something you can do, something that only you can do because there's no one just like you.

If that sounds like kiddie stuff, maybe you just forgot who you were as you grew up.

Maybe you lost your hope.

The good news is that hope can be found again.

And it only takes a little spark to be effective.

Only you can tell what things make your soul feel alive and your heart truly soar. But if you want to renew your sense of hope, you've got to do more of those things.

Sometimes, just doing one positive thing that makes your heart come to life is more than enough to light your hope fires again. But even if it takes more time than that, it’s still worth the effort.

And of course, there are some things we can’t actually give up on, like parenting. But we can definitely phone it in. Guess what? Hope can help us there too.

So the next time you want to give up, see if you can uncover your hope again. You might just change your mind about quitting. Or, you might see your heart was never in it to begin with. In fact, a lack of hope from the beginning may indicate the endeavor was never a good fit for a person ar all.

And that's okay.

At the end of the day, you've got to lead a life that satisfies you regardless of what other people would have you do.

But if you’re wondering why you can’t seem to quit giving up, it’s likely time to grow more hope.

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