Time Wasters: The Virtue of Giving Up

We get the frequent message that perseverance is the highest virtue. "Never give up! Persist until you achieve your goal!"

I disagree.

Sometimes, we do have to quit. And I'm not talking about smoking or boozing, either.
Let me over-simplify an illustration. Lucy never played fair, and Charlie Brown never kicked the football. Any sane person would have said, "This situation never changes. I'm tired of playing the fool. Instead, I'll prop up my football and kick it. You can watch."

But it depends on your investment. Let me quote from Dee Lauderdale regarding your Return On Investment: "When you’re about to buy something, try to determine it’s potential ROI for your life. The return isn’t always financial but try to determine if this item or service will add value to your life. Will this purchase make your life easier, more fulfilled, or less stressful? Will it give you long-term happiness? Then only buy stuff that has a high ROI." Yes, he's talking about purchases, but the principle remains: Will persistence give you fulfillment, or are you wasting your time?

Now, I'm not giving any cafones reading this an excuse to bail on a marriage or serious commitment. No way! This is for much smaller stuff. Sometimes, persistence is foolishness because you are not gaining anything, not even pleasure, from what you are doing. Let me give you some examples.
  • Reading a book. If it's not required reading and you're not getting any kind of satisfaction from it, it's silly to finish it just because you feel compelled to finish this thing you started to read, no matter how much you dislike it.
  • The radio. You change the radio station when a song comes on that you dislike, yes? There is no reason to persevere, and in this case, you know it.
  • Watching a movie or television show. If you don't like it, don't finish it. Yes, I know, most people know that. But somehow, some people feel that they need permission. I just gave it to you: Drop it.
  • A bad romance. Do I have to give you permission to get out of that, too? But consider how much you two have experienced together. After all, a couple has invested time, emotions and physical activities together. Consider your overall Return On Investment. As Jude Cole sings, "After all the time we spent together, don't you think it's worth something?" Allow me one more song quote, this one from Roxette: "Listen to your heart". Yes, the romance ROI is complicated. First or second date? That may be easy to bail out on. Months or years? Think carefully, Theodore.
  • Video games. When does it pass the point of recreation and become obsession, or just something to do because you're bored?
You should be catching on pretty well. The main principle is not that difficult. Just weigh in your mind (and heart, sometimes) how much time you are spending on something, and consider what you are going to gain by continuing. Sometimes, it's more productive to quit something that is a drain on your time and resources.

But if it is worth doing, then keep at it. I am not giving you permission to bail on something important.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Religion of Atheism

Image
In many practical aspects, atheism is a religion. "How can you say that, Cowboy Bob? Atheism is a lack of belief in gods". Yeah, sure. That's the cop-out redefinition, not the real definition . Except not all atheists got the memo , and some are confused. As I was saying, in many practical aspects, atheism is a religion . It is a philosophy of life and conduct, and has many of the trappings of organized religion. Although atheists will tell you that they believe in "reason", they actually have a religion that is based on faith. A lot of it. I can't go there, Girlfriend. In the United States, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that atheism is a religion The US Supreme Court ruled that atheism is a religion . Secular Humanism (a masque for atheism), received comments from the US Supreme Court that it is a religion (one of these groups wanted tax-exempt status as a religion) Atheists adore their religious leaders like Richard "...
Read more

Where Does It Stop?

Image
I was going to give these topics a rest, but something came up. On a previous post, Zach made a comment, and I am excerpting it here. His first sentence is an answer to a question I had asked him. Hope you're not embarrassed, but I want to give you a more complete response than the comments section would allow: My lack of belief in the supernatural is pretty much complete - I have never seen any reason to attribute a supernatural cause to phenomena. I suppose I rule out supernatural explanations because once you let one in, where do you stop? I look at an event I do not understand and go immediately to natural causes. Even if I can't figure it out, I still would assume it had a natural explanation. I'm worried that if someone started attributing causes to supernatural events, they would skip over the whole 'natural cause' thing and go straight for the supernatural, because technically everything is potentially explainable by an omnipotent being, no? ...
Read more

The Amazing Super Powers of the Mighty Atheist™

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Years ago, I wrote "atheist" on Twitter, and one cautioned me about using that word because I risked "calling down the thunder". We know that they can be ornery cusses even on their good days, but I was unaware of the intellectual prowess and wisdom of The Mighty Atheist™, dwarfing that of a mere theist. What I had yet to learn, however, is that they also have super powers that are even magical at times. Now I know better. Christians and creationists, I hope you heed this warning! Graphic modified from  Clker clipart As with other super powers, those of The Mighty Atheist™ are difficult to categorize. Not all atheists and evolutionists have the same powers to the same degree, and there is no special school for gifted atheists under a professor so they can develop their abilities. Like logical fallacies, powers often blend and overlap. Let's saddle up and ride over yonder to Deception Pass where the atheists, atheopaths, anti-crea...
Read more