Why It’s Okay To Give Up When You’re Feeling Down

 

 

Do you feel like it’s time to give up?

Close your eyes. Rest your head back and tell me honestly…

Are you too tired and too drained to try, when what once looked like the road to happiness has actually turned out to be the road to misery and despair?

We meet people who change our lives forever…
Some people walk away when we need them the most
And some stay no matter how much we burn them with our anger.

Some people break our hearts into a million pieces
And they don’t even know it…
Other people help us glue the pieces back together
Even when we blame them for everything we’ve been through..

 

We get hurt…
And we hurt back..
And we refuse to let go of what’s making us suffer,
Because sometimes ‘letting go’ isn’t even an option anymore.

Our loved ones become strangers overnight
and somehow everything we thought we knew, collapses right before our eyes.

 

So we struggle with the pain, the failures and the endless obligations
We struggle with guilt, resentment and fear
We struggle with loneliness..
Even when we’re never alone..

Until we reach the breaking point where we……
Stop.
We stop struggling and stop trying and stop feeling our feelings.
We just stop. And give up..

 

And you know what… I’m here to tell you that it’s okay….
You’re allowed to give up when you’re feeling down, and here’s why….

 

That person you’re so in love with, they’re the reason you wake up every morning and the reason you want to be a better ‘you’.

Except even when the ‘love of your life’ doesn’t know you exist, you still hold on to that glimpse of hope….
And you try so hard to be what they want you to be….
All you want is for them to love you back and let you love them..

Precious years of your life are carved away as you hope and wish and dream for the impossible to happen..
Simply because you don’t think it’s ‘impossible’
Actually, you applaud yourself for fighting for your love, and tell yourself one day they’ll value you for who you are…

But the truth is..

There’s nothing romantic about ‘waiting’ for someone to need you as much as you need them.
There’s nothing heroic about fighting for someone who doesn’t understand your worth.
There’s nothing beautiful about convincing someone to love you!

It’s okay to give up and walk away when you realize you’re wasting your time..
It’ll be one of the hardest things you’ll have to do
But eventually you’ll be glad you gave up
One day it’ll stop hurting…
One day you’ll forget to wait for the impossible
And you’ll openly welcome new possibilities…
It’s okay to give up when you’re feeling down
It’s okay to say ‘I can’t do this anymore’
Because when you find yourself stuck in the wrong story
The smart thing to do is ‘leave’..

 

Those difficulties that keep piling up and weighing you down…
All those times you’ve persevered and did more than your best.
Day after day working so hard, with so much love and passion
Night after night planning and anticipating, and praying for success
You’ve invested all your time, energy and effort to make this work.
You’ve sacrificed..
A lot..
More than anyone could ever know..
So much that every breath is a battle
And every disappointment cuts at your heart with a knife
Until you reach a point where you wonder…
“When will it get better? What’s the point?”

But the truth is…

This constant, vicious struggle will soon change who you are
It will take something away from you that you’ll never be able to retrieve..
You’re allowed to be a masterpiece and a mess at the same time
You’re allowed to give up on your need to fix everything and make it all right!
It’s okay to step back and take a moment to breathe
It’s okay to recharge, find what makes you happy and indulge in some ‘self-care’
Because the secret to success is in knowing you can’t know everything
You can’t do everything alone and carry the world on your shoulders
You need to share your joy and sorrow…

You need to help yourself first before you can help others.

Whenever you reach a dead end
And you feel like giving up
Remember these words….

Sometimes we do everything correctly, and still end up losing.
God in His infinite wisdom will deliberately close certain doors in your face
Not to punish you, but to push you in the right direction….
And it’s okay to fall down to your knees, rest your head on the door and just give up for a while

It’s okay to fall…

Eventually you’ll get up…
And your pain will make you more powerful and more determined
You’ll either try again or you’ll take a different pathway
You’ll let go of the wrong person to find the right one…
You’ll give up on an impossible dream to achieve a new amazing one…
You need to fall and give up
Because strength doesn’t come from what you can do
It comes from overcoming the things you thought you couldn’t
So take your time to reset
Cry, scream and collapse if you have to..
For perhaps when you feel like you’ve been buried in a dark place
One day, soon enough, you’ll realize

You’ve actually been planted….

 

 

 

Lilly S. Mohsen
Author of Live Your Story: The Art Of Loving, Living and Healing