Just Don't Quit

 Sometimes - and far more often than we'd like - life throws us curveballs. 

Some are great.

Some are not.

Some are a mixed blessing.

I recently had a new curveball thrown at me - just as I was settling in to being a full-time writer, I got called out of retirement when a teacher quit mid-year and they needed an experienced teacher to step in and pull things back together.

There are many benefits to this for me (not least the salary), but it's thrown quite a crimp into my writing schedule - especially as I hustle to get back in the game and get caught up.

Writing hasn't been happening. I'm really not good at multi-tasking when my brain is spinning (some family health issues play into this too).

What to do?

Yesterday, as I was writing a note of motivation to my daughter, I vaguely remembered a line from a poem, so I looked it up. As soon as I saw the full poem, I remembered learning it as a child. I recalled reading it with my own students. I could only think it showed up in my memory just at the moment I most needed the reminder.

So I wanted to share it with you today - for anyone who needs a lift or a reminder.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

~John Greenleaf Whittier

What do you do when you want to quit? How do you keep yourself going?

Image from Pixabay