For the next few months, this blog will occasionally look at the concept of choice. It is true that “Life is a sum of all your choices.” But do we even realize that every response involves a choice, that we always have a choice?
“I am not a quitter!” I wonder when and how quitting became such a negative thing. Aren’t there times when quitting might be the very best thing to do? Aren’t there times when even God would gently nudge us to stop what we are doing?
Surely God would encourage each of us to stop our addictions? The lead-foot driver should slow down. The alcoholic should abstain. The chocoholic shouldn’t have the first sea-salt dark chocolate caramel. The gossiper should refrain from uttering the next exaggeration even if the person being told promises to never tell anyone. The cat lover ca
nnot take every homeless cat inside the house. The gambler must stop himself from going into the casino with the grocery money. And the enablers among us must stop trying to help sick people who can only be helped by professionals.
If the math class is beyond the student’s understanding, isn’t dropping the class the wisest thing? If the jogger realizes his knees are being ruined, shouldn’t he give up jogging? If one really can’t afford eating out, shouldn’t he or she stop doing so?
There are thousands of other times that it just makes good sense to quit.
I hope I can remember this exercise the next time I make a choice. I will not as easily or as quickly decide to continue what I am doing.
Living as Apprentices 
Leslie…thank you for your blog. I am a quitter with a phrase that I say to myself frequently. I say, “Dee, it’s easier to say “no” now than to regret your decision/action in the next few moments.” I find that regret lasts much longer than the instant “no”, especially when the choice is sea-salt caramel chocolate!