Sometimes we lose. We do everything we think we can, put all of our effort into something, but ultimately it doesn’t work out as we wanted it to. We end up losing instead of winning.
Losing sucks. To have an expectation of a result and then not achieving it is frustrating, humbling, and can be paralyzing. Sometimes it is enough to make us give up completely. Instead of making adjustments and trying again, we might just want to abandon whatever we were trying to do.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because maybe we weren’t clear enough about what we were trying to do in the first place. But giving up on a dream because the going gets a little bit tough is a shame.
What if a little bit of refining is all you need to do? What if the next time you tried, you succeeded? You will never know what might have been if you give up.
There is also the other side to it though, the need to sometimes come to a realization that what you are trying to do isn’t meant to be. If all you encounter are walls and frustration, and there is no joy in the doing anymore, then that could be a sign that you are meant to look elsewhere.
There are no failures. Even if you need to abandon whatever you were working on and go in a completely different direction, there was still valuable learning that happened along the way. No experiences are wasted, even if we decide they were negative ones.
As long as there is enjoyment for what you do then there seems to be no good reason to give it up. By allowing your emotions to guide you, the feeling of happiness can steer you to an outcome that might be even better than you had hoped.
More than money or accolades, joy is the ultimate measure of achievement. If the project is still enjoyable to do, even if there are times when it feels like it isn’t working out, then it is worth it to keep trying.
But if all you feel is a level of stress or tension combined with the action, then it might be time to reevaluate what the actions are. Nothing should feel forced. Perseverance is different from stubbornly trying to make something be a certain way.
The best way to figure out if what you are doing is what you are supposed to be doing is to notice how you feel when you are doing it. If your stomach is tied up in knots and all you feel is frustration, then perhaps you are struggling in the wrong direction.
If there is a sense of ease and enjoyment, then whatever the results end up being doesn’t matter as much. The simple act of doing something that brings you joy is an accomplishment in itself.
Struggling or forcing things to happen a certain way just causes friction, both within and without. When allowed to flow, life happens so much more easily. When you truly desire to accomplish something, then often the skills to be able to do so are within you. Allow yourself to access these talents and see where they take you.
The doing will always be more important than the completion. Because once you have completed something, it will be time to find something new to do.
Life is never complete while you are still living.