Quitting holds such a negative connotation in our culture – and in many other cultures – that people would rather drudge along on one path forever instead of running the risk of looking like a “loser” by quitting. The truth of the matter, though, is that sometimes we have to quit something in order to allow something even better to enter into our lives. We can become so blinded by our expectations and preconceived notions that we often risk taking the chance to find something that is a better fit. This can include following your dream.
Enter The Quitters’ Club – a MeetUp in Washington, D.C. developed by Justin Cannon. If you visit the “About Us” section of their MeetUp page you’ll find the following:
Most of us have something special we’d like to do with our lives. Often this Holy Grail does us more harm than good; costing valuable time, resources and relationships. F’ all that noise. At the Quitters’ Club- our club- we can help each other stomp out the brush fires set in our hearts, and get on with our lives. Through the baring of honest souls amongst kindred strangers, we’ll shed those cursed business ideas, novels, movies, size fives, and first dates so that they can no longer keep us up at night. Join the Quitters’ Club. Start Stopping Now.
Justin’s MeetUp profile states, “…I’ve had about enough of my incessant dreaming…It’s about time to find the bliss of existence without the ambition.” The ‘bliss of existence without the ambition’ – I would call that being. It is finding a way to let things unfold and be what they are, instead of trying so desperately to force them into working. It is being okay when that shifts or changes, because you understand that life is fluid and that is gong to happen. It is accepting that there are going to be ups and downs in whatever you do and that if you are searching for perfect passion, you are never going to find it. As my friend Becky once said to me, “Passion can be punishing.”
It turns out that at the inaugural Quitters’ Club Meetup, the participants did more of encouraging each other along their paths with suggestions and alternations, instead of telling each other to out right quit. As Cannon said to the Washington Post, “If I can help one human being, just a little bit, to get out of their own way, that’s fine.” The larger point is that quitting can be an option, and that we need to be better about supporting each other in our decisions, instead of ridiculing one another for the choices we make.
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