Don't Quit

Out of all of the lessons that my parents taught me as I was growing up, probably the one that I feel I have benefited the most from is "Don't Quit!"

I grew up in a small rural town in South Dakota, about 60 miles away from where I currently live. The population was about 1,200 when I was growing up and my parents had also been raised there, so the community was my home as well as extended family. When life threw hurdles into the pathway of community members, almost everyone jumped in to help out in whatever way they could!

As I entered junior high, so many options were opened for me -- athletics, band, chorus, etc. I decided I wanted to play basketball -- after all, this was about the time that a movement was sweeping the nation to let girls have many of the same activities as boys! So I joined our 7th grade basketball team and quickly discovered that I was not very good at it. I approached my parents and told them I wanted to quit -- and was quickly informed that I had started the activity so I needed to finish out the season! Which I did -- it was not easy, but I did as I was told.

I also started playing in the junior high band and taking lessons to learn how to play the clarinet -- along with about 10 other people on the same instrument. Once again, I quickly discovered that I was not the best clarinet player but I stuck it out in band all the way through high school. I did end up switching to the oboe when I was a freshman, as our band director was looking for someone to do so and I thought it would be interesting.

By the time I was in high school, I had determined that I would not be the "best" at most things but my parents kept encouraging me to try things and to stick with the activities to at least give them a chance. Many times I felt discouraged and was upset with my parents for not letting me quit some things like other parents did. I tried debate, school yearbook, school newspaper, oral interpretation, and other activities in addition to band and chorus. I also was a babysitter who was in high demand as well as working in my father's business outside of school hours.

As I left that small town and started my years at college as well as my years in the working world as an adult, I often would find myself doing things that I was not the best at but my parents words would ring in my ears and I would keep working away at whatever was discouraging me. This was not only true with jobs where I was working, but also in my personal life.

At one point in my life, I was feeling very down and discouraged and a friend shared the following poem with me. It quickly became one of my favorites and I just wanted to share it with everyone:

As you work on your websites and making your dreams come true, always remember the words "Don't quit"! You never know -- the next moment or next day or next week might just bring you the success you are seeking!