On the campus of Freed-Hardeman University we have quite a few clubs. Not as many as other universities, but a lot for our size. We have the social clubs (the Freed-appropriate version of sororities and fraternities, but co-ed). We have the professional clubs, the honors clubs and the friend groups. But what about this...
What if, on our campus, we had a club that got together for only one reason, to quit?
A group of people that banded together to give up their dreams, to be each other's support during the process and who could finally extinguish the sparks that exist in all our hearts?
Now before you click away from this article, let me explain. Justin Cannon, the founder of The Quitters' Club, has given up film making, graphic design, fashion and music. He created a Meetup group (a group of people who meet face to face and do whatever was planned), and a group of seven people in Washington met up to give up on their dreams.
See, this all sounds like an awful idea, right?
Wrong.
"Winners never quit." Does that make quitters losers? I don't think so. America is a place where grit and perseverance are qualities sought after in everything. But sometimes, you just aren't meant to do something or be someone and that's okay. It takes a ton of emotional strength to give up on something, and I admire people who have the courage to do that. Walking away is hard, whether it be from a person, a sport, a dream, or a future, sometimes it's the right thing to do.
I was raised to not quit. I was raised with the fear of letting people down: my parents, my teachers, my principal, my friends. Every decision I made growing up (at least, as long as I can remember) was made with other people in mind. I was/am a people pleaser. I was the kid that would go out of my way to help teachers. I did my best on most of my school work. If I didn't make an A in a class, I was disappointed in myself and I dreaded the look from my dad that said, "You can do better than this."
At the end of my sophomore year of high school I had two big decisions to make, both involving sports. I decided to quit travel soccer and to take a year off from high school basketball. To this day those were two of the hardest decisions of my life. I loved both sports. They were comfortable and they were a huge part of my life. I had to take into account, however, that I had a car I had to put gas in, I needed a job and I would be taking my hardest classes the next year. Would I put too much strain on myself if I played both sports? Absolutely. I would have died that year if I hadn't quit. In place of soccer and basketball, I was able to get a job at my school's childcare center which changed my life and formed friendships with the teachers, kids and parents.
There are so many things that create sparks in our hearts. There are models who make you want to workout, thick books begging to be read, jobs calling your name, but sometimes we have to wake up and be realistic.
I will never be a size 0. It won't ever happen. I gave up on dreaming about that, because face it Brittany, it's never going to happen.
I will never be the smartest or the prettiest or the fastest/stongest/fill-in-the-blank-est.
That's okay. I gave up on trying to be all those things.
I'm going to focus on being smarter, faster, whatever than I was yesterday and to be the best me I can be.
I can't be everything. It's just not me.
