Paige Vidrine

You only have one life to live. You might as well do ALL you can with what you are given.

At some point in your life you desired success in some form or fashion. Everyone does. That is why New Year’s resolutions are so popular. Whether it be to lose a couple pounds or to achieve great financial success, you wanted something so badly that you talked about it. You may have even take the time to write down your goals and start planning your success. That desire to achieve consumed you for days! You were excited! Nothing could stop you! Then something does. One day while you are working your plan, something didn’t go as planned. A family member upset you. The day was chaotic. Maybe in just an instant someone did something that broke your spirit.

At that moment you were faced with a choice. You could either push forward or stop to process you pain and disappointment or you could stay focused on your goals. So often we all stop. We get lost in our momentary despair. We allow it to push us into an emotional whirlwind. Then we give in to our thoughts. We start to believe that it is just not the right time. We decide we will try again later. Your plan A did not work, so you give up, with the hope of starting again one day. A week turns into a year and you still have not started back on your journey to success. You lost focus. You look back and wonder what it would have been like if you would not have stopped. What if you didn’t quit?

           What we do not realize is that we do not have to give up! Being overwhelmed is not a health condition! The stress from it surely can be, but it is truly all about perspective. What you cannot handle one day seems to be easy as can be the next. Nothing changed at all, except for the fact that you may have gotten little more rest and ate a little better. Essentially, your life was the exact same as it was when you felt like you had to give up. For example, I work a couple of jobs. I rase two young children. My days are planned and scheduled so that I can juggle all of my responsibilities. Some days, I wake up, spend time with God, effortlessly dress myself, fix breakfast for the kids and have a lovely morning at home. With ease, I drop them to daycare and execute my job duties as planned. Things go wrong and I brush them off easily. We end the day happy and in peace. Then the next day can start the exact same way. I can have the exact same circumstances, but for some reason I get emotional. The weight of the responsibility starts to feel like its all a little too heavy. I start to feel sorry for myself and become consumed with anxiety. These days, just like the good ones come and go. Its all a matter of realizing that it will pass and the bad feelings we all experience are not permanent. When those bad moments hit, I could take the easy route and abandon my vision, or I could accept that every day will not be perfect and keep pushing.

          Yes, I have been on the verge of giving up. I do not expect not to feel that way. I have wept for hours. There were nights I spent begging God for a breakthrough. I have had some very trying years, but I refuse to give up. I refuse to abandon the progress that I have made. If it is too hard, I look for another way to keep moving. If that means I just need to scale back a bit, then so be it. I just refuse to stop moving forward. The key is to accept that each day will bring its trouble and to keep your focus on your vision and goals.

You have to keep moving. Keep inching forward. Develop good habits and constantly work on improving your heart. You have to determine that you will be a better person to yourself and to others. When you work on how you look at life, life really starts looking different. It just takes a determination and a drive that cannot be stolen from you. You have to know that what you do today affects your tomorrow. All the effort you invest may not be paying off in the short term, but it will pay off in the long run. You just have to know. When everyone is telling you that you can’t, you have to KNOW that you can. When people are talking about how you’re not achieving anything, you have to KNOW that you are!

When your world is closing in around you, you have to push back with force. Do not grow weak when the battle gets tough. You have to determine that you will be a soldier who will give it your all until the very end. NO RETREAT! Push forward in any circumstance. Rest when you need to. Recover your stamina, but never stop. Envision yourself so focused that you cannot see to the right or to the left. Envision the obstacles and watch yourself overcome them! Visualize your success. Focus on each step. Set small goals that are easily accomplished, so that you can feel successful every day.

When things get tough and you feel like giving up, you must close your eyes and trust God. When He opens them for you, your perspective will be transformed. You will see the beauty that surrounds you and will be renewed with strength. Then you must push on. Keep moving. Make your journey one worth writing about, full of twist and turns, but ultimately —- VICTORY!So, every time you think about giving up, ask yourself “What if you don’t quit?”