Middle quitter…

The snow adds that little extra touch...

Have you ever started a project and then quit in the middle of it? 

Have you ever had a dream or goal and didn’t complete it?

Have you ever quit in the middle?

I call this being a middle quitter…

We get started at something small, big, important or menial, but we stop before we finish. We either just begin and quit or we stop when we are almost at the finish. We get to within 10 feet of the peak and stop or we look up from the bottom and stop before we really get going.

Finishing is important!

I remember one time I was on a retreat and a hiking trip was planned for the afternoon, up a rather large, rocky, tree filled, hill in middle Tennessee. I am not a huge fan of hiking, just for hiking sake, but several were going and I thought it would be fun to be together, so I went on the hike. It wasn’t ridiculously long, but it took a good 45 minutes to an hour to reach the top. I can’t say it was my greatest joy, as we went up (except for watching people fall and roll to the bottom), and I was tempted to stop along the way and forget the whole thing, but once we got tot the top, the view was amazing. It was an incredible sight and we threw some fruit that we found on the ground over the edge and hung out for a little while enjoying our accomplishment.

It was awesome, and I can say that I did it, while others stayed at the bottom. 

Glad I finished the hike.

Sometimes we start something difficult and it’s very hard to finish, but the satisfaction of finishing is very cool and it motivates you to keep moving forward with the next item on your list or the next goal you have.

Sometimes the goal is going down the hill too. While we walked down this hill, we saw some good medium sized landscaping rocks that would go great at our house. The owner of the property said it would be fine to take them along. They were only about 15-20 pounds each and I thought it would be easy to get them down. I just about threw them against trees, rocks and people on the way down. That much weight in each hand over about 30-40 minutes of walking down a hill was more than I realized. BTW - we had to walk across a large field after we reached the bottom too.

I love how those rocks look at our house and I smile each time I see them, because I accomplished something. Had I not gone on the hike, I wouldn't have the rocks. 

Lessons Learned: Middle quitting is never satisfying. Finishing something is always satisfying. Don’t quit, even if you’re discouraged. I have quit things many times, but they don’t motivate people, like a finishing story would.

Thoughts: What are you wanting to quit right now? Have you ever started something only to give up?

#failalot