Crying doesn’t make you a loser. Bleeding doesn’t make you a loser. Tapping doesn’t make you a loser. Even failing doesn’t make you a loser. Quitting, however, does. And this, I should add, is with anything in life, not just Jiu Jitsu or MMA. Quite recently, I was ready to give up on something because it was hard on my emotions and soul. But I had a person much stronger than I constantly telling me how I couldn’t quit; that despite whether it was recognized or not, I was needed, and one day it would all be rewarding. I hate when he’s right, which unfortunately for me and my sanity is quite often. I’ve had my face broken in front of hundreds of people, and then stepped back in the octagon 2 months later. I’ve tapped in competition to some utter bullshit, but then I worked even harder to in training to rectify those mistakes and have never been caught slipping the exact same way twice. I err, I fail, I stumble, I fall, but I continue to persevere. And no one reading this should ever think that I am made of more durable stuff than most and they wouldn’t be able to continue to push onwards after being incessantly broken down. We are all capable of conquering those negative demons, we just need to believe we can and be even more willing to put in the hard work and mental barriers trying to keep us down.
The only thing you should be quitting is the attitude of being a baby back bitch. Yes, I have been guilty of exuding the behavior of a weak ass daffodil, but I am here to say that those moments were temporary and fleeting. I rebounded much stronger than before as a thorn covered rose and will prick your god damn skin off if you try to grab my emotions in a negative manner ever again. We all have it hard in one way or another, so stop thinking it’s your circumstances holding you back and keeping you down. It’s your weakass mindset and unwillingness to do put in the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to be successful. Whatever you need to do to dig deep and find that motivation by any means necessary. For me lately, it has been listening to Lizzo or Cardi B to hype me up. They are honestly big moods right now. I can be dragging myself out of bed and not wanting to hit up that 7 am laundry struggle until I hear Lizzo telling me that my DNA test came back with the results that I am 100% that bitch and I’m like ‘damn girl okay I hear ya. Guess I better hop to it.” Cardi B is a bit more explicit but sometimes you just need to state facts and boss up.
No one remembers the name of the person who quit, but the legends who put themselves out there get written into the pages of history and never forgotten. Even the royal douchebag Christopher Columbus failed in his task of ‘sailing to India’, accidentally landed himself in America, caused the deaths of thousands of innocent Natives, and now there’s a whole federal holiday named after him. (I’m honestly so good at motivational speeches I should start a blog. Oh, wait). I often feel like the little engine that could, chug-a-lugging tirelessly up some never-ending hill and working hard just hoping for the best. This train may be tiny, but it’s got one hell of a caboose and I will ‘choo choo’ until I can’t ‘choo choo’ no more (that whole last sentence sounds like I’m dropping my new mixtape on soundcloud). For example, I keep writing this blog every single week, not even sure if anyone is reading it, mostly spewing nonsense and drivel with a few humorous anecdotes just for relatable entertainment. In actuality, my #1 readers are probably also the people who hate me the most, hoping to get a glimpse inside my head to try and figure out the best ways to break me. Sup, boo? I see you out there creeping on my hustle!
Do you think that for one second, the most badass people you know of are sitting at home wanting to give up when things get hard? You darn tooting they are! They just don’t let those thoughts consume their whole day and allow themselves a mental reset before delving into their daily tasks. No one is invincible, and we all have our breaking points, but remember that just because something bends, does not mean it’s broken. Unless it’s your knee, because then you may have torn some ligaments homie. Otherwise it’s time to just nut up buttercup and keep it moving. My life has no room for quitters, and I can’t believe I almost allowed myself to fall into that level of mediocrity. When we are stuck in a situation, it’s hard to not internalize the struggle and fail to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But the predicament is temporary and quitting lasts forever. One of the biggest dilemmas we face is not making permanent choices over temporary issues. And I get that it can be so hard to see the possibility of a brighter future and better days ahead, but that is where our mental fortitude must prevail. If the world tries to swallow you whole, you better give life something to choke on, because if you think I am ever going to go down without a fight, you best be practicing your Heimlich maneuver.
Aging wrinkles the body, but quitting wrinkles the soul, and I am trying to have my soul Benjamin Buttoning up in here, okurrrrrt. Life is hard, and there are an amplitude of struggles spreading around for everyone. You are not alone in isolation facing feelings of ineptitude or unworthiness. It is time to rise above whatever is holding us back and face the storm head on (not you Dorian, you can go somewhere else). This blog post is kind of all over the place but I’m just trying to throw in as much positivity as possible to hype us all up. I’m like the Flavor Flav of positivity except you don’t have to demean your self worth to date me, I think. Quit smoking, quit your miserable job, quit the negativity, but whatever you do, do not quit on your dreams no matter what. It’s never too late to be relentless in the pursuit of our happiness, and every hardship we face along the way will make victory taste that much sweeter. Hard work will always beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I will never allow myself to consider the possibility of giving up on something just because it is hard or my emotions are temporarily hurting. Everything will work itself out in the end and I have too much love to keep on giving just to let it all go to waste. A true winner is not someone who never fails, but someone who never quits, and to those watching me, whether rooting for me to fail or looking up to me in hopes I succeed, I dedicate my perseverance to you. Cheers to the inner badass in us all.
