So I am pondering a question.  Not a super important one but one that I has me bewildered.  When is it ACCEPTANCE and when is it QUITTING?

Here is why I am thinking about it.  In the Elizabethan period in which I am currently dwelling, evolution has been at a prime.  I am reminded each day to try less to be a good Christian and instead to be more like Jesus.  I am encouraged that good things reside in me.  Inspired by a super good book, I am having tough chats that need to be had.  I am doing more things on purpose.  It’s a crazy time here in Hustopia.

But as I feel myself turning toward the sun and spreading out my petals, I notice that some battles are unchanged.  Some parts of myself that I would remodel remain handyman specials.  These are not parts of myself that affect my service or my loving others or anything mission critical.  Just parts that would be more to my liking if they were a bit improved.  The refrigerator works…it is just still in an olive green shade.

So here is the question:  at what point do you just say “this is the way I am”?  Do you?  Or is that quitting?

Theoretically, I am anti-quitting good things.  I support quitting bad things (smoking, being mean, wearing midriff tops), but where the good is concerned I usually think you should stick with it. Despite the fact that my poker motto is “Winners fold,” I generally support finishing what you start.

I can actually only remember one time in my life when I totally QUIT something.  Graduate school in DC.  I had only one semester under my belt.  I didn’t like the assignments.  The program didn’t exactly fit my career plan.  I traveled so much for work that I could barely keep up.  Then, one night, my friend Julie, the only friend I made in this program, asked while I complained, “Are you going to quit?” It was like a door opened really far away and I could JUST see the light.

I was empowered by the question.  I could QUIT this program I totally despised.  I could do something different.  Just the thought was like a brand new Coke Zero cracked open just for me!  (Coke Zero wasn’t actually invented yet but it is the most apt comparison.  Plus, we are talking about quitting so Coke Zero is clearly on my mind.) So I did.  I quit.  And it was the right thing.  Eventually I got my graduate degree at a better time and in a better for me program.

So should I see what other battles I continue to fight just because I started fighting them?  I am going to think about this for a while.  Think about what I spend energy doing just because I don’t want to be a quitter.

According to Kenny Rogers, one needs to know only a few things: when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away, when to run.  Maybe its time, at least on some fronts, to learn this lesson.  Give myself some grace and save some energy for better fights.

Thoughts?  Do winners NEVER quit?  Is it wise to save your energy for the fights worth fighting?  Or am I just making excuses for leaving the field of battle?