Georgia, On My Mind: Don’t Quit Pursuing Your Goal

Monthly thoughts from Councilwoman at Large Georgia Awig

Watching the Summer Olympics has been very inspiring. It reminds me of a poem I have hanging in my office called “Don’t Quit”. Wonder if any of the athletes would have given up when they were thinking they would never make it to their goal?

I know it must be tough having all those hours of practice, maybe getting up early, staying up late, or missing important events. I know they have spent lots of hours perfecting their techniques in swimming, gymnastics, biking, volleyball or any of the other sports we have seen in the past week. It is obvious they never quit and they stuck it out. Even those who did not earn a medal can feel proud that they made it to Paris to perform in front of thousands of spectators.

I have often quit things in my life because I was not as good at it as I would have liked to be. Being a perfectionist, it is challenging to play a sport or do anything and not be good at it. I believe the only way you can be good at something is to practice.

That is exactly what those athletes have done, over and over again and they did not quit when they made a mistake. Even though I feel I have quit many things in my life, I have continued with many things, sometimes reaching my goal and sometimes not. I would encourage you not to quit when things get tough but to continue pursuing your goal.

What are you thinking of quitting or what goal are you continuing to pursue even when the going has been tough?