Give in or give up!
June 2nd, 2008
What’s the difference between giving in and giving up? And how do you know when to give?
I’m tempted to say we must never give up! And yet, perhaps we must give up in order to give in – your thoughts???
To give in is not to give up. To give in is to go with it, for better or for worse. ‘Course, it’s not a vow – it’s control that we’re giving up. First, I think we must give up trying to control that, which we can’t control anyway. Then we give in to the fact that our emotions (for lack of a better word) are out of control. And we go with ‘em, for better or for worse. They may be unpleasant, but this too shall pass.
It’s like a wave that we’re trying to ride – it’s best to hang ten – to put ourselves out there, on the edge. It’s like an undercurrent – a strong undercurrent. We can’t see it, but we can surely feel it, and it’s often strong – much stronger than we. It’s best not to fight this, but rather to give in to it.
Years ago, we took my mother-in-law to the beach, which was out of her comfort zone, but she wanted that experience (once)! She didn’t want to go past her ankles, but we coaxed her out to about waist-deep… and wouldn’t you know it… here comes a fairly strong undercurrent – something she had never experienced… and she fought it instead of giving in like the rest of us. And of course, she ended up in a freakin wheel chair for the remainer of the trip!!! You just gotta give in, but first you may hafta give up…
Experience does in deed help, but we might as well share our experiences – learing from others, allowing them to learn from us – from our experiences. What good are tough experiences if they can’t be used for the benefit of others?!?!
