pig, or cow

There will come a point in your life, or a few points in your life, where you will be given two choices. Stay, or go. Work for it, or walk away. Jump, or don’t jump. Either choice is a good choice, both will make you happy, but whichever you choose will lead you down a completely different path.

I have always been a fighter, a fake it till you make it-er. Normally, I am someone who does not give up on things easily, and I hardly ever back down from a challenge. I like to explore every angle of the situation and try every solution I can think of before one of my plans either works or I realize I truly did everything I could. I am not one to take a chance on regret.

I have dealt with anxiety for as long as I can remember. The voice in my head has always been there. Questioning everything from whether or not I locked my car door, whether or not those people are staring at me or whether or not something could happen today that turns my whole life upside-down. It has been the hundreds of scenarios that flash before my eyes when I notice a missed call on my phone, and the perception of how people interpret what I say. So, you can only imagine the list of possibilities I made as to how you, reader, might interpret this post.

But I’ve been working on it.

More recently, I have become comfortable with letting things go. I have worked on not spending so much energy on things that may or may not make a difference. I have become comfortable with risking regret, the unknowns and moving on with my life.

A professor of mine recently gave a lecture on life. It had nothing to do with advertising. He spoke on topics varying from money to respect to sex to diversity to nature and success. He basically covered 18 typical years of parenting into an hour and 15 minute presentation. And each point he made was wonderful. One thing that really stuck out to me was the quote below.

If you spend your whole life trying to save someone, well, then you just spent your whole life trying to save someone.

Fighting. It is defined as a struggle against something. When we spend our time fighting, with a person or against something, it is done in order to produce a result. It is done with hopes that it may make a difference.

But sometimes, you’re swinging with both arms and you’re so caught up in the fight that you don’t realize, the only thing your fists catch is air. There is a reason that tires you out so quickly and makes you weak. There comes a point when the fight is pointless. It would seem obvious that at that point, one would know they needed to walk away, but I’ve come to realize that in certain cases, it’s okay not to take even one, failing swing.

Now, this is not to say that struggles that have gone on for decades are not worth it. Some of the most influential people in history spent their whole lives, and died over, fighting for what they believed in. But those are not the situations I am talking about.

I am talking about when it’s okay to choose the other path. To move on. To choose not to spread yourself too thin, to choose to save your energy. Because someday, and the day is inevitable, your life on this earth will be over. Did you spend every day listening to the voice in your head, fighting and seeking every possible solution? You may have calculated the risk for every potential regret but you’re exhausted. And you probably missed the beauty of life as it passed you by. More often than not, you just have to choose. One path or the other.

You have a split second to make your decision.

So.

Pig, or cow?