Never give up? Really?

I have always wondered how people are able to know when the limit has been reached to stop pursuing something.  How much is too much to say? How much is too much to bear? Each time people give encouraging words, more likely than not the popular statement “Never give up” is bound to come up.  I wonder however, if something keeps failing, is it not a cue at times to move on to other things? Is that not in itself a sign? As one wise man once said, "If at first you don't succeed try,try again then quit. There is no need to be a damn fool about it."

Before you start casting stones at me for what might seem a pessimistic message consider, the faithful wife who has endured abuse, physical, emotional or otherwise for the past twenty years but keeps hoping that one day her marriage will work out. Had she taken the first slap seriously would she not have saved herself a lot of turmoil over the years? Consider the thirty five year old wanna-be model who has been casting for modelling jobs ever since she was nineteen and now she has hit her mid-thirties with no career to speak of? Would she not have had a better chance of making something of herself if she had taken the first 5 to 10 rejections seriously? Consider the receptionist on a company who has been loyal for the past fifteen years hoping that one day they would be promoted to a better position, receive a better pay and the young man who has pursued the same young woman for the past three years in a bid to court her to no avail.

Don’t get me wrong, i am all for pressing on towards the goal and taking the sound advice of the Thomas Edsons of this world but i also think there is lots of power in knowing when to draw the line. Immense possibilities can be opened when you realise it is time to let go, strategize and come up with plan B, C,D and so on. Giving up is not always a sign of weakness. In fact sometimes it’s a sign of strength. I have seen people that have used this strength of knowing when to move on and when to keep trying and I admire them. For sometimes never giving up is like trying to barge into a closed, albeit sometimes locked door.  My opinion?  Either find the key or find another door!  The coin can however be flipped and that’s why it’s also important to strike a balance and not be caught guilty of giving up too soon for another  wise man also said “The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.”