The Edge of Ideas

When do you know that something has run its course in your life? People often do things they’ve always done, and maybe used to enjoy, without thinking about whether they still like the activity. We keep on going whether or not we want to, while forgetting that we always have had the option to leave and try something new. We forget we have the option to drop something and pick up something new to reinvigorate our life. 

One of the main ways to know when to quit something is when you no longer find it fun, like you used to. Activities are supposed to be fun not stressful. Maybe your job isn’t always fun, and is often stressful, but there should always be a little bit of enjoyment you find in doing it. This is mostly referring to things other than a job. If you’re going out of your way to do something that takes up your time, you should enjoy doing it. Time is one of the most valuable things in life, you never get it back.

Another way to know your activity is more unhealthy than it should be is the cost-benefit. In anything there is always a cost. The cost could be your energy, time, money, or anything you find value in. However, many things also have a benefit. People often find joy in their activities. When you feel that what your doing is no longer worth the stress, energy, and/or time, its time to reevaluate the situation.

Pros and cons help you to see how you really feel about an activity. All that needs to be done is to divide a paper in half and write the good and the bad. If the bad significantly outweighs the good, you should already know how you’re feeling. If the good outweighs the bad go and try to find whats giving you these negative feelings! It doesn’t have to be over.

An example of cost to benefit is sports. When people play sports they often find an unexplainable joy in playing. Its something that has been described as runners’ high. Runners’ high is when an athlete, not just a runner, goes through the feeling of being at the top of their game, the place where they feel there is nothing that could bring them down. This is a spectacular benefit to playing sports. However, “runners high” can be interrupted, or even prevented by stress, low energy, or just negative feelings. This negativity can get to a point of no turing back, and at that point sometimes the best option is to just let go and move on.

Sometimes people will get the feeling of quitting, then they decide they will not quit but work harder. This is a very honorable thing to do, and is a good thing to do before deciding to cut something major in your life. However, after doing this if nothing still seems to have gotten better, there is likely nothing that you can do make it better. Hard work is good, however, when you’re not receiving any positivity in return it is not always worth it.

Often you just need to prioritize. If your stressful, negative activity is taking away from something else, you shouldn’t let it win. No one likes feeling like they’re wasting their time when they could be doing something else. If there is another thing you feel would be more beneficial to you, don’t keep wasting your time. Look at what is going on and create a list from most important to least important. If the activity at question is fairly low, you should already know the answer. Life only happens once. Time is irreplaceable, so go out and do what you love to do.