Sometimes, Giving up Is the Best Choice We Have

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

How many times have you heard, "Never give up!" or "No one likes a quitter!"

How many times have you heard inspirational stories where people say "So-and So person faced numerous setbacks, but she kept fighting all along" or "Mr. A and Mrs. B had their problems, but they never gave up on their relationship, even when life got tough."

I’m guessing your response is something along the lines of "more times than I can remember." For a good reason, our culture praises perseverance. Many amazing things in our world would not have been invented, and many great people would not have achieved success if they had not kept getting up every time they were knocked down.

But guess what? Sometimes giving up is the best thing we can do.

We were taught to persevere no matter what comes our way. Yet, sometimes that perseverance — that unwillingness or inability to let go or give up prevents us from moving forward, from finding happiness, and from adapting to the curve balls that life throws at us.

We will all face various life situations that will require us to choose whether to persevere or give up: professional goals, artistic dreams, romantic relationships, relationships with family and friends, the desire to have children — the list is endless.

My advice is rather than accepting unhappiness, please do give up. Don’t accept to keep being unhappy and stagnant just because of the people’s award winning view on perseverance.

Continuing to strive may seem like the best option most of the times. However, other times, in most cases, it may not be.

Giving up does not always imply that you are a terrible person, a failure, a deserter, or whatever negative label the society must have named it.

Giving up indicates that you are mature enough to know when to cut your losses and move on, that you dare to protect your mental health, and that you are willing to take the risk of changing course.

Giving up does not always imply weakness or cowardice.

Giving up when necessary means you were strong and wise enough to realize you couldn’t handle the former anymore and that you are also ready to redirect your energy elsewhere.