There
are times when all seems lost. We've all been there. The job of a
lifetime turns sour, that one true love turns out to be a mirage, or
you have really screwed up and there is little hope for turning things around. You may be so crushed and
scared that you can't even see where things went wrong.
You may feel very much like this lizard, who had been so careless that he was caught by Buffy, our old huntress
When you find yourself in this kind of situation, there are at least two ways
you can go. You can bow
to the inevitable and take your lumps, or you can defy all reason and insist on working your way through to a more satisfactory conclusion.
The
first way absolutely guarantees that you will end up smaller and
weaker, possibly dead.
Choosing the second path, giving no quarter, and
keeping your own counsel is no guarantee of success either. However,
if you survive, you will emerge stronger and smarter.
It's a hard
choice and no one can make it for you.
Giving up in the face of superior force is no shame, but that choice may lead to a surprising loss of integrity.
Hanging in there and toughing it out until you find a way to handle
your situation with honor is the best way.
If you got into your current predicament because of an error in judgment, take that as a sign that you are missing vital data. Treat failure as a learning experience and you will emerge from each failure emotionally stronger and more ready to tackle life.
Life is continually changing. The successful actions of a few years ago may cause a business to close today. There is no rest point, only change.
Social and political situations may change so radically that your once comfortable life can vanish in a few months. Failure to anticipate threats can expose you to dangerous situations like that pictured above.
If you find yourself in the grip of adverse circumstances in spite of your best efforts, do not give up. If you are pursuing a worthwhile goal, you may find the inspiration you need to wrest yourself from your current disaster and move on to other challenges.
Buffy carried this lizard around by his foreleg for at least a half
hour. Each time she tried to pin him down with a paw, the lizard desperately pulled himself out of harm's way. When she finally put the
lizard down in order to get a better grip, he was gone before she could
bite down.
(I took this picture many years ago and have revisited this subject several times on this blog. Each time I discover new insights. This time I decided that ending something on your own terms is a more satisfactory learning experience than ending it because you are forced to do so.)
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