**This post was originally sent via ConvertKit on August 13th, 2021.**
Hey you,
Welcome to our first issue of The Pause for August. You may notice it looks a little revamped in here; I took some time to tinker around on Tuesday night to try and create a lighter, more refreshed look. I'm digging it so far, and I hope you will, too.
Today we're going to take a moment to focus on quitting -- what it means, how we define it, and what it applies to. Before we go there, take a moment to get in a place where you can enjoy and savor this moment to zoom out and strategically think about yourself. You're certainly worth the time.
-L
✋🏻 Quitting
Have you ever felt hesitant to quit something you knew wasn't serving you, but you were weirdly nervous to be considered a quitter so you kept going even though it wasn't what you actually wanted to be doing?
...yeah, me neither. 😬
I bring this up because earlier this week I was listening to the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, and in the episode Abby Wambach (a gold-medal Olympian soccer forward) and Glennon Doyle (a self-proclaimed quitter "every single day") explored their different philosophies on quitting...and it kind of blew my mind.
Throughout my life I've tried to avoid being considered a quitter like the plague...I mean, last month I wouldn't quit a 3-week yoga program that felt equivalent to slowly getting teeth pulled because I didn't want to be someone who "gave up" or couldn't FiGhT tHrOuGh ThE pAiN.
Intellectually, does that make a lick of sense? Of course not. But there I was, every day for 3-weeks, reluctantly showing up on my mat and cursing the gods every minute of the way just to prove I wasn't a quitter.
We've all done this to some degree, right? Maybe your story isn't about an exercise class, but instead about not quitting a relationship you'd outgrown. Maybe your story involves not quitting a job you were being treated poorly at. Or, maybe your story involves not quitting a way of thinking that was keeping you stuck, small, or bitter.
Whatever it was, or whatever it is, here's the thing Abby and Glennon so graciously reminded me of that I'd love to relay to you:
Quitting isn't just something we do when things get hard and we can't take it anymore...quitting is something we do to set ourselves free.
One of the most powerful decisions I've ever made was to say, "I quit" to my first marriage. Was it hard? You bet. Painful? Most definitely. But it was also a quit that set me free to become the woman I am today -- a woman I love and am proud of every single day.
⏸ Pause & Reconnect
Remember there are no right or wrong answers — just what’s true for you.
Are there any thoughts, relationships, jobs, or habits you want to quit? What are they? What's been keeping you from quitting so far
What have you already quit that you're proud of?
How would you like to define quitting moving forward?