Never Give Up

Never Give Up.

Recently I came across this statement  when making a Vision board with a friend a couple weeks ago.  It was SO MUCH FUN picking colors, images and statements that make you go YES!

Once I saw this slogan and know that it had to take center stage for obvious reasons.

We ALL have those moments when we think “F it.  Time to create Plan B.”  Well for me, there has been a loose Plan B in my head that generally makes me shake my head saying

HELLS NO!

Then one day I am in the car and this song comes on as as my head spins round and round with thoughts of the emotional devastation of Plan B reality....

Wait a minute...I remember...that’s right....giving up has NEVER been in my blood.

My Dad would say “It’s a Troy thing” meaning I come from strong stock.   My grandmother was a strong lady. Actually both my grandmothers were strong but Nana's story is different. By anyone's standards she wold have the right to complain about anything and everything; but that wasn’t her way.

Nana contracted polio in the 50s and became a paraplegic.  By the time I was born, she had been in a wheelchair for some time.  Stories have been told about how she would walk around outside holding onto the sides of the house to get herself to the clothes line to hang the wet clothes out to dry.  She would go up and down the stairs several times a day on her butt to move laundry back and forth.

SHE NEVER COMPLAINED.

Nana lost her husband when he was in his 40s from a heart attack and then buried three of her sons during her life time; two of which also died young from a heart attack.  Her other deceased son was a quadriplegic who had been in a car accident hit by a drunk driver.  She took care of him after his accident again without ever complaining.

So yeah...life was not easy for Nana.  She wasn’t the warm fuzzy grandma but that’s possibly because she was the Irish grandma.  I had a hard time connecting with her when I was young but posthumously I have had a deep and warm connection to her.

Nana was a resilient soul.

She Never Gave Up.

Resilience is hard to come by these days.

Due to all the instant gratification of the internet era, most people expect that things in life should happen at lightening speed and be gratifying.  If this is not the case, they tend to give up very easily.

Much has been written about how the Millennial generation has struggled greatly with this concept.  I see that a lot in my practice and am quite often speaking with my young clients about the need to take a longer term approach to life and slow down.  Life is constantly unfolding in new and unknown ways.  Sometimes those ways are very challenging and disheartening but....

THAT IS LIFE.

Life does not always go our way.  In fact at times it may feel like you can’t catch a break until....

one time you do.

But don’t attach to things being that way because you will have more struggles.  That is life.

I, much like yourself, sometimes get frustrated with this process.

I too, would love for things to have more upward linear movement.  It would be nice if my life could be like a Hollywood chick flick where a phone call or email comes in about a HUGE break in my career.  At this same moment the handsome guy who is emotionally and financially grounded comes in to whisk me off my feet.  Wait a minte I think he looks a little bit like Ryan Gosling.... no...shut up....he IS Ryan Gosling!

In one instant I am in a scene from La La Land where we are singing and dancing down the streets of Somerville and falling madly in love.  Life suddenly becomes technicolor as I come home from a long day of hitting the pavement making shit happen to hear....

But let’s face it....that ain’t reality.  Or maybe some odd version of it could be...who knows.  But what I do know is  that when I stop attaching to this fantasy I am more able to work with what life is serving up.

Life has it’s ups and downs but we get to choose....are we going to give up?

If that IS actually in our blood then why?  A good question to ask yourself is why do you keep giving up on yourself time and time again?

Life is not going to get any easier the more you give up quickly.  The next job is not going to suddenly be without conflict.  The next relationship is not going to suddenly show up like Mr. Gosling in technicolor just waiting for you to unload on him! LOL

You will have your challenges just as I do.  On the days that feel most challenged, I can delve into the fantasy that someday it will be different. But what actually helps me more is to make things different by letting go of the fantasy that someone or something outside of myself will make that happen.  I have to do my part and get out in the world doing the nitty gritty in order to set the wheels in motion.

The last piece worth mentioning is a very important detail.  We all have more support than we think we do.

The Universe is wide and vast.  It’s energy and light surrounds us all.

If we do our part, the Universe will come in and help support the rest.  We can’t sit our butts on the coach and expect that opportunity will come knocking.  We have to get out there and do the work of not giving up and then...that is when Universal energy comes in to help out.

So just breathe, slow down and

NEVER GIVE UP!

And when in doubt look out for Ryan Gosling’s look alike...you never know where he may be hanging out!

Cheers to never giving up!

Want a little support and guidance along the way?  Contact Me and we will get you on your road to health and happiness!