Time to quit? Meditation for 6/5/14

Charleston SC

 “The first rule of the Calvary is: If the horse you are riding dies, dismount.”  -  John Cato

“No use in flogging a dead horse.”  - Unknown

     We all have spent time and effort on something that becomes more and more troublesome.   It might be a relationship, a business deal, a project we have been working on or any of many other things  We get the intuitive notion that it might be time to move on to other things, but the combination of the work we have invested and the potential we think we see keeps us pushing along.  Little glimmers of hope can keep us hanging, and we are especially susceptible to this if we have our ego invested in the deal.  Then, not only the project suffers defeat but our ego suffers defeat as well.  Of course, we don’t want to quit five minutes before success happens.  How do we handle it when we are caught in this gray zone?

     It is not always easy to separate ego from intuition, especially if we have our ego invested in something.  In the case of people and relationships, we often fall in love with the potential we see, not the reality of what the person is willing to do.  In the case of business and projects, often we have told many others what we are doing, sometimes exaggerating the positives and minimizing the negatives, so we feel that if we fail to complete what we set out to do it will somehow show us to be inadequate or inferior.  But at what point is it enough pain – at what point do we decide to cut bait and run or hang in and fight.

     If I have expectations of something going my way, I am set up for resentment, which is not only uncomfortable (self pity soon follows) but it distracts me from what the next right thing to do is.  After all, it is not in a duck’s nature to stay in a row.  If we find ourselves stubbornly pursuing something in the face of increasing resistance, it probably isn't supposed to happen.  If when we look at our vision and cannot see a clear tangible benefit for anyone besides ourselves we are probably on the wrong track.  And when we find we are ignoring that quiet voice in our gut we are heading for trouble.  Yes, it is painful to accept that the potential we thought we saw in something really doesn't exist.  But the sooner we accept it the sooner we are back living in the moment and looking for the things we can do rather than focusing on the things we cannot.  We have to remember that acceptance does not mean endorsement, surrender does not mean resignation and refocusing our energies into another effort does not mean defeat.  The sooner we accept the reality of what is the sooner we can hear the vision of a situation that works to the benefit of all involved.   As to when to persist and when to send the horse to the glue factory on a particular project, I am often unclear.  But, reviewing each day as honestly as possible at the end of the day and speaking with trusted others usually brings pretty good indications of where tomorrow’s efforts are best spent.

Today, may I be realistic with myself.

Have a great Thursday !!

David

If you would like to contribute to this journey or to the foundation, just click Here.  If you have no idea what this is about, Click Here and Here, and click Here to email me.  Thanks for your interest and support !!