And So Are You

I was watching Survivor tonight and two of the players wanted to quit. They held a ‘tribal counsel’ and Jeff Probst, the host, asked the two why they wanted to quit after making it more than halfway through the game. They said they could no longer endure the hardship, the weather, the hunger, the discomfort. then he asked one of the other players what advice she would give to the two that wanted to quit. I listened to the advice that player offered, though truth be told once she started saying words of lack & limitation I only half listened, and I thought what a great opportunity this woman had to reach out the the world and what would I have said had I been her. I am not on that show so I won’t have that platform but I have this one and my advice is;

In life one of the critical elements is your focus. If you are in a situation that is not to your liking and all you think about is what you don’t have, what you don’t like, what hurts, then your situation becomes unbearable. This is because what you focus on increases. Ever have a headache but then get busy with something and hours later realize that your headache is gone? It’s because you stopped focusing on the headache and started paying attention to something else. Ever been to a twelve step program meeting? The people that regularly attend would tell you that they would be overwhelmed to think of facing an addiction for a lifetime so they focus on one day at a time. Ever hear the story of an Olympic athlete (or any great athlete for that matter) and hear about the sacrifices they make day after day, year after year in order to compete? They can do that because they keep their focus on what they are working for. Ask any woman that has ever had a child and she will tell you that once the child is born any pain or suffering is set aside and only the result matters and that the result is worth it. If I can do this so can you, so don’t quit because it’s hard, stay because you can. If you stay you will never regret trying, but if you leave you will always regret quitting.