Permission to Quit

I don’t know how to quit.  I don’t even know what that is, quitting.  I’ve trained through some pretty serious injuries, finished a teaching credential I didn’t plan to use, and worked to save relationships that weren’t worth saving, because I’m not a quitter.  Sounds kinda dumb when we say it out loud though…

Our whole lives we are taught not to quit, to finish what we start and honor our commitments.  There is merit in those behaviors, but there is a time and a place for them.  There is also a time to quit.  I read somewhere that people who are not bound by this code of honor are happier and more successful, and I’m starting to see why.  Think of all the things we’ve been told since childhood and have accepted as truth:

“If you quit now, you will always be a quitter!”  My husband quit Gi Jiu Jitsu after receiving his purple belt.  He went on to become one of the top lightweight MMA fighters in Europe before fighting on one of the biggest stages in the United States in the WEC.  That doesn’t sound like someone who’s labeled a “Quitter for Life,” it sounds like someone who followed a new and different dream.  He has recently taken up the Gi again and is finding he enjoys it, I don’t see a downside here.

“If it’s worth starting it’s worth finishing!”  Says the debt I’m still paying off for a degree I’m not using.  Just putting one foot in front of the other, high school, college, career, was not my path, but I took it and I stuck with it.  The classes I enjoyed the most weren’t the classes in my major (Horticulture), they were History, Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature.  I don’t want any of those things for my career either, but they were a lot more fun.  When I discovered fighting, yoga and nutrition were my true passions, I was too blinded by my commitment to make a change.  I have no regrets, but I do see a downside here.

“If you quit, you’ll let your whole team down!”  This week I learned that by not quitting, I was letting my team down.  I suffered an injury at work and was trying my hardest to be a “team player” by not going to the doctor, not filing a claim, and continuing to work.  My boss gently pointed out that if I wasn’t working at full capacity I was hindering the operations of the store.  I didn’t look at it like that, I felt a great relief when he have me permission to go get the rest I needed. 

And so, I too give permission to quit!  With the following exceptions:

1) Parenting, if you have children you better be in for life.

2) Because it’s hard.  Most things worth having don’t come easy, don’t be lazy.

3) Because you failed.  Fix it and go try again.

4) Because someone else wanted you to quit.  You can only give to others when you are satisfied with your own situation.  

I’ve had several well-meaning people ask how much longer I plan on fighting.  The answer has been the same since the day I walked into SLO Kickboxing.  I will fight until it’s not fun anymore, and I will continue to learn and grow as a martial artist for the rest of my life... unless I decide not to.

www.KatieCasimir.com