Is It Worth One More Round?

It can be easy to quit. Just stop and walk away. At that moment quitting may feel like the better decision than going one more round, and we all know the relief when the pain or work ends. Then our minds kick in and more than we care to admit we are disappointed in ourselves. Regret and self loathing begin. “Ugh, if I’d only held on a bit longer I could have finished.” When we quit we open the door for our mind to be haunted by the missed opportunity or accomplishment.

So our next change comes. We reach that same point and we break through it all.. We keep working, keep sweating, keep fighting to reach the end. It may feel like it’s going to kill us or we have nothing left, we’re tired, hungry, empty inside and void of anything other than exhaustion. Yet no matter how we feel right now we know we finished. It may not look pretty but it’s done and we’re done, and we did it! Barrier broken and success accomplished. What a great feeling, even if we are spent with nothing left.

It is strange that we can feel these two emotions – regret and success – within days or even moments of each other. It is like the ultimate emotional roller coaster ride. If you have ever felt this way you know how great it feels to succeed yet knowing the next milestone will be harder as you just raised the bar. That’s okay, you are up for the challenge and are willing to go one more round to reach your ultimate destination.

This applies to all of life – saving, athletics, personal relationships, a career, cleaning, moving even training a pet. Everything we want in life requires sacrifice and courage, everything requires that we are willing to risk winning and losing. And everything worthwhile means taking a risk and working through one more round of whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. No one got anywhere by being a quitter. At some point we have to decide if what we want is worth the risk of winning or losing or quitting. I hope that today you spend your time working towards something in your life that is worth one more round.