Why We Can’t Give Up.

This picture of Winston Churchill hangs in my office. I have the same image for wallpaper on my phone. It’s not because I think Winston Churchill is glamorous. It isn’t because I idolize or worship him. He was a flawed human same as we are. He was fallible. He made mistakes. He ate poorly and drank and smoked too much. He wasn’t even all that likable to many, but few would ever question his dedication to the causes he esteemed. He was defeated time after time, and yet he kept getting back up.

Maybe that’s why I am such a fan of Lincoln too.

Without a doubt my favorite U.S. President is Abraham Lincoln. Again, he was certainly not glamorous. We know he did not receive a formal education, yet he valued education a great deal. He believed in peace and freedom, but he knew if peace and freedom were to be preserved there would be a fight. And he wasn’t afraid to lead it.

In both the case of Churchill and Lincoln you have people who were willing to stand up for what they believed in and were not appreciated for their noble causes and their incredible leadership. They struggled to form coalitions and faced tremendous opposition. In the case of Lincoln, it ultimately cost his life.

In recent days, actually months, I mean years, I have encountered a few people who have considered giving up. Admittedly, the thought has crossed my mind a few times also. In a recent conversation with one of those folks, whom I love very much, I explained “Why we can’t give up.” Listening to myself it made so much sense I realized I needed to capture those thoughts. Perhaps even sharing them will help others who may be feeling the same way. With social media I can often see others who are struggling with loss and sorrow. A lot of times we don’t know what to say to these people. Well-meaning friends of mine have said “this too shall pass” which doesn’t offer as much comfort to me as I think it does for them who say it. Like me, these good people are trying to understand why such bad things have happened to them – a question not easily addressed or answered in a blog post.

The reason we can’t give up is simple: If we give up we will be miserable for the rest of our lives. We might tell ourselves it doesn’t do any good to keep fighting. It’s just going to end in more heartache. The fact is, no matter what we’re facing, we can overcome. Now it might not be in the way that we want, it may not be our vision of success, but one thing is for sure, if we quit, we lose.

If you are a person of Faith, you believe in an afterlife. As Christians, we believe in an eternal life in which our earthly bodies will no longer fail us, but we will live an eternal life of peace and happiness with God. There’s no way our mortal minds can comprehend exactly just how this works – that’s why we call ourselves people of Faith. We believe our God, who formed the world and all that is in it, is omniscient and omnipotent – He knows everything and can do anything. We take it on Faith that we will one day be not only restored, but made completely whole for an eternity. If we give up we deny eternity, we deny God his proper place in creation and I believe we will ultimately deny ourselves anything to do with God or a heavenly eternity.

And though I strongly recommend being or becoming a person of Faith, those whose beliefs are only temporal (for this world) may also benefit from my reasoning for never giving up. Simply put, if we give up can we even begin to expect things to get better? If we’ve been beaten down, if we’re sick, if we’re hurt, do we think that we will magically get better by giving up? Of course not. That makes no sense at all.

The fact is that nobody ever told any of us this life would be easy. “Bad people” (whoever that means) aren’t the only ones who get sick, lose their jobs, lose a loved one, declare bankruptcy, or fail. Loss, setbacks, failure, and death comes to us all. Sure some of us experience more or less of it than others, but nobody gets out of here alive. No one ever won anything by giving up. Not in the history of careers, sports, politics, or life. Not one person. Ever.

Within just a few weeks of his death, Jim Valvano gave an incredible speech at the 1993 ESPN Espy Awards. As he closed his speech, though well aware of his prognosis, Valvano told the audience he looked forward to being able to present the 1994 Arthur Ashe Award Winner with the award he had just been presented. His 11-minute speech is still impactful to this day, nearly 30 years later. While Jimmy V. knew his life was nearing the end, he used the opportunity to give that speech to inspire millions of people around the world who were battling their own form of cancer. He used his platform to create a foundation which has since raised hundreds of millions of dollars for research and prevention programs because he wasn’t giving up – not until his very last breath.

I have a story to tell. I have value to add. I have a purpose in my life.

If you’re still reading, so do you.

Don’t give up.

Don’t ever give up. – Jim Valvano