On staying or letting go
I’m a third-year medical technology student. While I can cope with my subjects, I still feel that something is lacking. I can’t seem to find what will make me happy. Maybe you can help me.
MJ
If you are really passionate about something, quitting is almost always the last resort. This has been my philosophy for quite a long time now. And whenever I hear people telling me that their option is to quit, I always advise them to reconsider.
After every setback is a comeback. I always believe in working more on what was left than what was lost and to find yourself again in times of losses and misses. Too many broken pieces scattered all over the place don’t make sense until you put them together to form a masterpiece.
Some masterpieces come from rubble and debris brought about by our painful past. A once messy story can become a remarkable testimony. The human spirit doesn’t totally break. It simply flexes. And it can be painful, ugly and disorienting.
I was once rubble, a rough fragment of humanity — always on the go, always thinking, always trying to make sense of what happens around me by believing that logic made everything right.
Well, it doesn’t. Logic takes away emotion from the equation. And who are we without emotion? Logic may solve many problems but not all. Logic denies people from expressing who they are by presenting them with dead ends. It gives us an illusion of an ending that we fear; thus, giving it the same power to stop us from living life to the fullest.
In 2004, I first wrote as a correspondent for this newspaper. From 2006 to 2008, I wrote a column. But I took engineering in college. Logic says, “No. It can’t be. It’s a broadsheet, man!” My heart says, “Yes. Why not?” Logic says, “You quit, you fool!” My heart says, “It’s worth the try.” And so I fought my way in, and I got in.
This year, I’m officially back as a career columnist. If I had listened to and given in to logic and set aside my feelings, I wouldn’t have made it.
I am a human being capable of feeling something and acting on that feeling regardless of what logic tells me otherwise.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s what makes me vulnerable to pain, frustration, and disappointment. But the same makes me capable of expressing the human spirit — broken but not irreparable.
Quitting is almost an instant choice for people who are caught in difficult situations. It seems to be a justifiable escape plan. But something else is more important than quitting. That is finding your meaning. Your difficult situation doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in a wrong course because even if you’re in the “right course,” you can still have a difficult situation.
Do you quit and shift to another course? It really depends. And you have to make a conscious choice. If what you see in your horizon just won’t serve your interest, your passion, your desire — and you feel it won’t make you happy — then quit now.
On the other hand, if you feel that this is just a temporary discomfort for you and you see yourself in this place for life, then just continue the race and move forward.
And about that missing piece? It is often referred to as love.
Lloyd Luna, RSP, is the first registered speaking professional in the Philippines. He is a motivational speaker on Filipino leadership and author of 16 best-selling career books. He is the chief executive officer of Stepback, a leadership and culture development company that helps leaders and organizations see the bigger picture in life and at work. Email him at lloyd@stepback.ph.
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