Don’t Give Up, Just Give It Time - Rosie in a New Light

Life keeps going; so do you.

So many times in life we are presented with trying situations. Challenges that might make us feel alone, or small, or scared. These little “tests” ask us to be strong, to remember our boundaries, and to stay true to who we are—just like the values Rosie stands for.

I remember times in my life when I felt challenged and tried. These are times where the concept of life moving on – whether I was actively participating or not – kept showing up for me.

For me, both the ideas of not giving up, and that life keeps going on are intertwined. No matter what happens in my life, I just keep going. On some level I am aware that it is a choice – although, it doesn’t even really feel like a matter of choice at times. For me, as long as life keeps doing its thing, I’ll keep doing mine.

The Meaning of “Life Goes On”

I think back to lower points in my life when I thought about the concept that life would go on without me. I only ever understood this phrase from one perspective. It didn’t come from a bad place—I just understood it in an objective way. I interpreted its meaning from the perspective of insignificance in the grand scheme of things. When you look at the whole universe, and the planet, and all of the people on the planet, I am one person – so I can see how overall, life would keep going. But wait, zoom back in with me – what if you just gave yourself a little bit more time.

Whenever I heard the phrase “life keeps going on” I always received it the same way. My assumption was that life would keep going with or without me – business as usual, either way.

If you quit your job, life would keep going with or without you, if you ended that relationship, life would still keep going.

There are a lot of people out there who will say if you want to do something, you have to do it right now! Who hasn’t heard the saying “it’s now or never”, or how about “If not now, when”? All of those ideas are valid and lead to excellent points that I agree with. And, I would like to explore the idea of slowing down and just giving yourself a little extra time.

What would happen if you gave yourself an extra day or two to think, before you made your decision? What if you waited to cool down before picking that conversation back up? How would it be different if you got a little bit more information first?

Have you ever written an email that you were glad you didn’t send?

It’s an Opportunity

The reality is, in almost every sense of the term, life would keep going on with or without you. Those workout classes will still start at 6am, sales are still going to be made, babies will still be born and crazy things will still be going on in the world. If you’re anything like me, and that made you feel insignificant, I would like to challenge you to see that statement as an opportunity.

Try to give yourself a little more time – even with simple things like, waking up in the morning, getting to work, or taking a few breaths outside to enjoy the morning air. In every single way, if you just gave yourself a little more time, you could learn something.

You can apply this to almost every part of your life—from navigating tough conversations to the way you communicate overall. Taking a few moments to contemplate your words and actions in everyday life can change how you carry yourself through the world.

Allowing yourself time, without judgement, to make bigger decisions can drastically shape the direction of your life. It allows you to make your decisions more intentionally and mindfully, and it allows time for you to gather more information.

The fact that life keeps going on means that it keeps giving you more opportunities. It keeps giving you more to work with. When life is doing its thing—especially when everything feels up in the air—it’s our job to let it. Trust that everything works out for you.

There are certain points in your life when you realize that some things just aren’t worth the work. And, you only learn lessons like that from going through it. If you give up before the lesson is over, not only do you not pass the class, but that means you never get to see what you would have done.

The things you do are meaningful. The things that make you happy are meaningful. Your happiness is meaningful. Your sense of peace is meaningful. By taking responsibility for your emotional wellbeing and choosing to actively participate in experiencing your life – you start to see these things as given truths. It just takes time to get there – so what if you just gave yourself a little?

Look at How Far You’ve Come

Have you ever looked through your old school stuff? Mementos that you or a family member might have kept from your school days; art projects, maybe writing projects and school photos. You might have paintings from third grade, or a short story from highschool. You get to look back on these things and see how much you’ve matured as time has passed.

Maybe you are one to journal, and you’ve kept your journals from over the years. You get to read those stories from the other side of growth.

Part of why it’s so meaningful to look at those things is to see how far you’ve come. You have firsthand knowledge of how far you’ve come. And if you can get this far – who’s to say you can’t get a little farther.

If you’ve ever felt so low, that you didn’t have any further to go – give this perspective some thought.

If you’re willing to just give yourself a little bit more time, maybe you won’t give up?

You always have the choice.

What becomes possible when you don’t give up? Everything. You can achieve your goals, if you don’t give up on them. You can learn a language, become physically stronger, read more books, get a better job – whatever it is you desire. If you put all of your effort towards achieving that thing and you just don’t give up, you will achieve your goals eventually.

You can live a full life and see what happens.

This post touches everything from waking up earlier to contemplating one’s life, but the reality is, giving yourself just a little more time can apply in every area of your life. The secret to achieving your goals is never giving up. Just give yourself some time – and see what happens.

Have you ever given yourself just a little more time and seen everything change? Let me know in the comments below!

Resources If you’d like to learn more about choosing to be more mindful, check out these links:

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