You should probably not give up

Let me paint you a picture

Life has been flowing. Days have vividly come in bright yellows and the figures in your canvas have finally found movement. You think, “Yes! This is the piece. This one will set everything up.” You proudly look back at all the risks you’ve taken this time. This time, you bought a bigger canvas, you tried bigger brushes, and instead of thinking of an audience you painted for yourself. There’s truth, heart, and passion in those brush strokes.

But the next day, you added blue hues. And there went your moment. What was supposed to beautifully compliment the yellows, just sat static.

Suddenly, the plan didn’t work.

Naturally there are days that will come as a challenge. Those days come with haze, and a fog that disconnects you from the reality you’ve been desperately trying to create. You stand alone behind the roadblock and instead of solutions there are thoughts with your voice echoing your failure.

You took the risk, you did it with passion, you worked so hard — so what went wrong? Another dead end.

You want to give up, but you guilt yourself into trying to think of a reason not to. But the reasons why you shouldn’t give up aren’t always clear.

Where you find no reason, you have to make one.

Life doesn’t owe you anything. And your plans will fail. Multiple times. It’s going to be so exhausting. It’s going to be draining. Mentally, emotionally, financially, physically. It’ll fucking suck. That’s when the doubts will set in. You’ll think of all the times your own family told you your goals are unrealistic. “Come down from the clouds” you’ll repeat. Then you’ll think of your age, and crushed you’ll tell yourself that maybe it’s time to let go and try to adult(it’s a thing).

BUT — PAUSE — YOU TOOK A RISK! You were afraid to do that before. Look at you go! That’s a success in itself!

You already took a risk. Why not take another one?
Yeah, you already fucked up. What are the chances you’ll fuck up again? (high). BUT, there’s growth there. The best thing about failure is how much it breaks you. It’s humbling. It’s a chance to meditate on the fact that you still have a long way to go. Another failure, another step closer. Keep pushing.

If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for someone you love. Do it for your community, do it for the world.

’Cause nobody wants a bitter you walking around.

Do us all a favor and just don’t give up. Just keep doing what you love and the rest will follow.

Sleep it off. Life is going to flow again.

Follow me @guillenken