Why People Give Up

One of my greatest fears is ‘giving up’. Settling for what life gives me. Not having the courage to go after everything I want out of life: health, happiness, prosperity and the ability to share all of the above with others.

Many people give up on their dreams…for various reasons. We don’t so much “give up” on their dreams as we really just stop dreaming. We forget that we wanted to be a detective, or a gymnast, or the president, or a school teacher. Instead, we get distracted. We get inundated with messages every day, telling us that we should invest our time, money and attention on superficial and insignificant things. This takes our focus off of who we are and shifts it to what “they” want us to be: controlled…managed by the media’s influence on our cultural values and beliefs – which in turn affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

So many people go through life living it for someone or something other than what they originally intended.

But we can only do one thing at a time, right? I constantly seek guidance in how I spend, invest, and manage my time. Now that I have a family, this has become even more necessary. I have a son to take care of now – to be responsible to AND for.

And I think this is one of the primary reasons that people stop pursuing their dreams, goals and aspirations. Namely, once you have children and a family, it becomes more complex to make time and give focus to your pursuit.

Much of your time goes to your family and therefore some people settle for the traditional “American Dream.” A family, 2-car garage, big yard, good school district, working for a good company that will allow you an above average retirement package. 

Is this freedom? Maybe. For some. IF that is what they TRULY want.

And I do want that.

But not JUST that. 

And I believe that many people feel similarly.

What does freedom mean to you?

What do you want to be free from? And what would that free you up to do?

Freedom FROM what & freedom FOR what?

It’s easy to identify what we want to be free from: injustice, negative influence, low self-esteem, conspicuous consumption, racism, institutionalized oppression, etc. Ultimately, all of which are distractions and detractors of our happiness and joy.

Yes, these are very real things, and we should all definitely be aware of them.

But what are they distracting us from? What’s really going on? Who really is in control in this scenario?

In my opinion, these distractions are designed to keep us from realizing the freedoms that we actually DO have. The distractions keep us from talking about real issues with people, they influence how we relate with one another and more importantly, they affect us when we’re all alone.

Now, once we become aware of these things we realize that we DO have a certain level of freedom, how do we want to use it and what for?

My answer: I want to use my freedom to increase freedom.

Freedom: the ability to realize, pursue, and achieve (live out) one’s dreams (purpose).