This picture summed my morning up in a nutshell.
I don't love grocery shopping, I'll just say that... so I'm usually in a hurry.
It doesn't help to have the toddler with me because I'm
not thinking about what I'm doing. So today when I swung the bag carrying the eggs from the shopping cart to the trunk I realized that none of the eggs were nestled safely in the carton...they were all loose in the bag.
As I cursed in my head (because my toddler repeats EVERYTHING she hears) I inspected each egg and stuck them back in their places, only two were broken. Which was great! But really really aggravating because the whole time I'm at the grocery store I'm trying to stay on a budget and think of ways to get the most out of my money--and ruining the merchandise before I leave the parking lot is totally not the way to do this!
As I drove home I thought of all the things I could do with those two eggs. I could make...
- scrambled eggs
- a mini omelet
- cookies
- cake
- brownies
- my hair super crazy
I could do a million things with those two dumb eggs...
Or I could just throw them away.
So that's what I did. (My grandma probably just rolled over in her grave. She lived through the depression and later had 14 kids. She would NOT have thrown them away.) And maybe you're thinking: What's the point? Who cares? They're stupid eggs.
But it made me realize something important.
Sometimes it's okay to quit. Maybe that's a strange way to put it or a weird revelation to have from throwing away broken eggs...but sometimes the little things we worry about aren't that big of a deal and it's okay to put up the white flag and say: 'No, I'm not doing that.'
The other side of that revelation is... Sometimes it's NOT okay to quit.
But you have to decide.
I recently had a conversation with my mom about the piano lessons she forced me to take...we had a good laugh.
I HATED piano lessons. I refused to practice. I didn't like anything about it: the teacher, the recitals, reading music...and maybe it's because I sucked at it because I didn't practice. My mom said that someday I would regret quitting piano... but she finally gave in. She let me quit.
To this day, I don't regret not playing the piano. It wasn't for me. It was okay to quit.
I did many other things throughout my adolescence...I played the violin, I ran in Cross Country and Track, I joined the swim team, heck I even tried pole vaulting and one of the school musicals.
Some of those things I stuck with and some I didn't. I don't regret quiting...it gave me more time for the things that were important to me. But I would have regret not trying.
There are things in my life I am unwilling to quit no matter how hard stuff gets...like being a stay-at-home mom. Sometimes I tell my husband I'm putting in my two weeks, because it is seriously the hardest job I've ever had, with the worst pay :) but it is something I can't give up. Spending time teaching and being with my daughter is so important to me.
My marriage is another thing I can't give up...we have had our rough spots and marriage is HARD (Why is it that no one tells you this when you're young? Or is it that they tell you and you don't really care to listen??) but it's something I can't quit. (Don't take this offensively... I know there are situations where divorce is the right answer...but it makes me sad to see marriages crumble that could have lasted with the right support)
Writing is something I'm not willing to quit. I don't think I could even if wanted to... I enjoy it too much. Sure I go through rough spots where I'm not meeting my goals or things aren't clicking, but I can't quit. It doesn't matter if anything ever comes of it. I won't quit...It's something I HAVE to do.
There are things worth fighting for...things that you have to refuse to quit--but you have to decide what they are.
Next time you get a bag of broken eggs... the choice is up to you :).
