Is it ever OK to quit?

I pride myself on not being a quitter. I remember my Mom telling us as kids that if we start something we have to follow through. I was dying to play an instrument, the clarinet specifically, and my Mom agreed. One catch, I couldn't quit, I had to commit to it for the entire year. One year of that was enough for me, I didn't love it, but I stuck with it for a year.

Something else instilled in us as kids was to work hard. You aren't "owed" anything in life, you work for EVERYTHING you get. If you don't get it, you didn't work hard enough. As an adult, I see that this is NOT taught to everyone as kids, as a matter of fact, I think that I figured that out pretty early on in my career.

So I adopted a "never quit" attitude. About 6 years ago I signed up for a bikini competition at age 45. It was on my bucket list so I hired a coach, committed to it for 6 months and stepped on stage. I never quit. I should have quit. What?!?! YES, I am saying I should have quit. I put my body and mind through hell during that competition prep, and laugh now at how naive I was when I started the prep, thinking that I was totally mentally prepared for it. I remember my friend asking me about 2/3 of the way through the prep if it was worth it to continue. At that point, I had put in so much time and money that I wasn't willing to forgo all that investment and quit 

Of course, I didn't realize the extent of the fallout for the months after that event, but that's for another post;)

Here's the question: Is it ever OK to quit?

If you asked me this a couple of years ago I would say NO, but today I say YES

Definition of Quit: stop or discontinue (an action or activity).

But in our society, quitting has forever been associated with FAILURE. If you quit, you must #1 not want it bad enough, #2 not be willing to work hard enough.

To me, quitting now means you have healthy boundaries and a sense of self-worth. That you LOVE yourself enough to stop beating your head against the wall, doing things that you KNOW are not serving you any longer, and can leave all of that behind in search of growth.

"In actual fact, quitting can be the positive process of choosing the path that more fully serves your highest good." 

• Staying in an abusive relationship because you are worried others will think you failed at your marriage.
• Staying in a dead-end job, because, hey at least you have a job.
• Sticking with a bikini competition prep, crying every day not even recognizing yourself anymore because you have invested too much time and energy into it to back out now.

Quitting any of these things above doesn't mean you have failed. It means that these particular actions/situations are NO LONGER in your best interest and you are open to looking at another path. 

“Quitting is not giving up, it's choosing to focus your attention on something more important. Quitting is not losing confidence, it's realizing that there are more valuable ways you can spend your time. Quitting is not making excuses, it's learning to be more productive, efficient, and effective instead. Quitting is letting go of things (or people) that are sucking the life out of you so you can do more things that will bring you strength.”

Osayi Osar-Emokpae:  Impossible is Stupid

So I ask you...... does quitting= failure??