(ThyBlackMan.com) On November 25, 1980 one of the most extraordinary events in boxing history took place at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Roberto Duran, one of Panama’s most revered boxers, turned away from his opponent, Sugar Ray Leonard, at that time America’s most popular boxer, towards the referee and quit by apparently saying, “No mas” (Spanish for “No more”). No moment in boxing has ever reached the epiphany of that event.
Just like Duran, many people have been so pummeled in the boxing ring of life that they want to turn to the “referee”, away from their opponent and say “No more!” Indeed, some have quit on life but are still living; they have a ‘heart beat’ but have ‘flat-lined’ to their dreams and aspirations.
If you have ever felt that way, or if you are feeling that way now, here are three things I want you to remember.
It’s Always too Soon to Quit
We do not come equipped to quit. Everything about life is meant for constant forward movement; trees, grass, plants, insects, animals and humans are all wired to unfold to its natural development.
Quitting is as unnatural to humans as the sun refusing to shine, as a blade of grass refusing to grow, as a newborn baby developing into a fully mature adult.
We are not wired to quit; we are designed to become all of what we have been ordained and destined. Quitting requires an unusual summons of the human spirit; it goes against our very nature.
You Can Always Write a New Script
Why do most people want to quit? We can always argue societal conditioning, upbringing or even psychological issues, but the biggest reason that can truly be cited is people simply quit because life is not meeting their expectations. In other words, life has not gone according to script.
Many of us grew up with a fairy tale version of life. We fantasized about making it rich, getting married and buying a home in the suburbs, there to live happily ever after. But somewhere along the way life stopped cooperating. In fact, life threw away that fantasy script completely.
Today, though, if you are on the verge of quitting, the good news is you can write a new script. You may say “I’ve tried that already”. Well try again! And again. And again.
The fact is we must write the script all of our lives and be prepared to re-write it all of the days of our life, because it is in the ‘re-writing’ that we find our fulfillment as human beings.
Your Life is Bigger than You
Finally, there is an element of selfishness in our desire to call it quits. We tend to think about what’s in it for us too much. The truth is your life is bigger than you; it’s not always about you.
Your life is being used (or can be used) to solve a greater dilemma, to achieve a greater task and to build a brighter and better future for untold millions.
Do what you have been put here to do, even if you don’t see the rewards of doing it with your natural eye. Resist the urge to think selfishly and begin to think selflessly.
When a wave washes ashore it brings with it something from the ocean and leaves it upon the shoreline. Think of you life likewise; think of what you are washing ashore with your spirit beauty and gift; think of the many blessings that you bring to others.
If you remember it’s always too soon to quit, that you can always rewrite the script and that your life is bigger than you, you will see the blessings in moving forward in life. Don’t quit.
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.