Reflection: Choosing What we Pursue and What We Hang On To... and What We Let Go

How do we decide whether or not it is time to jettison something we have given lots of time and effort to? How do we decide whether something that's only giving us so-so results is actually worth continuing with?

I remember once reading an article about changing jobs that was entitled "Too Good to Leave — Too Bad to Stay."

Whereas it didn't really offer much concrete advice, it did highlight the way most decisions and lifechoices we face aren't necessarily clear cut and "no brainers."

Many years ago, I had a business that I held onto for another five years after it had pretty much become "stagnant," all because I hoped things would turn around. In retrospect, the fact that it had stagnated in the first place should have been the message I needed to quit... but instead I kept hoping that things would — somehow — get better.

They didn't.

We face these sorts of unclear choices almost every day.

We face them in work contexts; we face them as self-employed people having to decide on "so-so" offers; we have to decide whether to sell our crypto or HODL; we face them in our relationships and friendships... we may even face them in our primary relationships or marriages.

In my 60-odd years on this planet, I have still not found an easy or clear way to make a decision in these situations. Maybe the real secret is that there are no clear decisions.

The thing about life itself is that the vast majority of our experiences are not really outstanding in any way... they are primarily middle-of-the-road.

The only thing that had helped me at all to navigate these "middling" choices to to remember that old saying "Don't sweat the small stuff! It's ALL small stuff!"

Of course, it's not all small stuff — we all know that — but the point behind the saying is the advice to not worry excessively about things we most likely have little to no control over.

But getting back to the "main event" here of whether we hang on or let go... a lot of time I just end up trusting my intuition because my brain just gets "stuck." Most of the time — whether it makes sense or not — we tend to have "gut feelings" about things.

For example, it was a gut feeling that persuaded me to NOT quit and leave Steemit entirely last March when so many were saying it was a "lost cause." It was also a "gut feeling" that led me to the small town where I now live, even though I had no friends, no connections and no job prospects when I arrived here.

It is now 15 years later, and I am still grateful to be here!

Of course, our intuition isn't always right, but it tends to have a better track record than logic or our hearts... so I tend to trust it.

Thanks for reading, and have a great reminder of your week!

How about YOU? Is is difficult for you to decide what to abandon, and what to keep? Or can the choice seem difficult? How DO you choose? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210608 22:42 PDT
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