Blog
Never Give Up
Pillar VII: Never Give Up
Life is full of twists and turns. Every experience you have is a lesson on the never-ending journey of personal discovery. Living each day heartfelt and engaged is the best way to ensure the purpose of each experience and lesson is discovered. Such discovery is often elusive and lessons from disappointment are not immediately obvious, especially in our impatient modern society. You may not take the time to pause and see the beauty of your daily experiences-both the highs and the lows. If you want to live from the heart, you cannot afford to give up trying. You must never give up trying to achieve your goals and dreams and do not allow days and weeks to go by without personal reflection. You may want to focus on what you haven’t done today, last month, or this year. However, if you focus instead on what you have done and accomplished you will find peace and strength. Never give up– It is because of your continued effort, despite the challenges, that you will accomplish your goals and become great.
On August 3, 1857, Frederick Douglass delivered a “West India Emancipation” speech in Canandaigua, New York. Most of his address was a history of British efforts toward emancipation as well as a reminder of the vital role of the West Indian slaves in the struggle for freedom. Douglass spoke presciently of the coming Civil War and at the tail end of his speech produced one of the most quoted sentences of all his public speeches: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” This simple sentence underscores the importance of persistence and the relentless pursuit of heartfelt living.
You can never afford to give up on your goals, objectives, and dreams. As long as you are still alive, each day offers a new opportunity to progress, accomplish your goals, and become great. When you focus on the important things your life has purpose and meaning and you will feel alive. As you reflect on the final days of the year and look toward the year ahead consider the core principles, goals, and experiences below that are important and remember to never give up in the pursuit of your own personal goals.
- Maintain your health: One body, one life, one chance here on earth to live. Honor yourself by taking care of your mind, body and spirit daily.
- Do work you enjoy: Organized action, which you are compensated for, requires a strong work ethic, consistency and discipline, and will bring reward when you enjoy what you do.
- Give and receive love: Without love the world can be a cold place. We are social and need to love and receive love. Look around for love, whether it is from family members, lovers, friends, and acquaintances or just in the eyes of loving people you connect with. The perceivable presence of love is vital.
- Maintain a peaceful environment: Take command over your environment and make an effort to establish peace at all times.
- Keep good friends and be a good friend: Fight to keep loyal, giving, understanding friends in your life who want nothing from you but your friendship in return.
Grow through change: If you feel as if you’ve “arrived” that is an invitation to learn something new about yourself and the life you’ve been given-take on a new challenge. Change is inevitable so embrace it and prepare for the personal growth it brings— never give up, you are alive and a New Year is ahead!