Many people write and tell me that things have deteriorated so far in their lives that they are ready to quit. I sometimes send them this poem to which I took the liberty of adding a couple of lines:
Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
When you’re worried and full of doubt,
Just remember that success is failure turned inside out,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
Author Unknown
At one point in my early career it looked to be dead certain that I would have to take bankruptcy due to some thieves that had stolen virtually all of my current assets which amounted to about a million dollars. Angry creditors including my bank were calling every day threatening to sue me, the bank account was depleted, the inventory was gone and the shelves were bare. I’d been forced to reduce my work force from 65 workers to 19 in just three days. When all of the money dried up, all of my so called “friends” and “hangers-on” dumped me like a hot rock.
Not long ago I was reviewing some of my old memorabilia and I stumbled across this little note that I had written to myself on a scrap of paper during this crisis. When I wrote it, I’d just finished walking around my empty warehouse and shattered business and was feeling kind of blue.
Ode to the Entrepreneur
The clatter of the empty warehouse rings a doomful, sad sound.
Dark and damp, baleful now with closed doors and broken windows.
Everywhere I look I see dreams unfulfilled.
Hard work is over; and so it is
Where are all the well-wishers, the “friends”, the admirers?
Where did they all get off too?
Failure, the American dream that will haunt you.
Heartbreaking is the crux of failure’s sting.
One must recover from such stings and fight back to the top.
I wrote this to myself decades ago, but when I read it this morning, I remember writing it like it was yesterday. I was depressed and sad that day, but as you can tell from the last line, quitting was still not an option.
As it turned out I didn’t quit and I didn’t give up. I just hunkered down and worked my way onward. I was able to fully recover from this dilemma and rebuilt my business beyond its former state without taking bankruptcy, and I repaid every penny to every creditor. I now consider this period of my life to be one of the toughest but also the single greatest learning experience of my career, and although it was a tough lesson at the time, I know that God allowed my misfortune to better prepare me for bigger and far better things on down the road.
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that the very next piece of paper in this old folder was this little nugget:
When you just can’t take it anymore
Turn it over to the Lord
Work don’t worry
Don’t shoulder the burden alone
Have faith in God!
This was some good advice that I wrote to myself all those years ago and it is still valid today. Many of us are facing various trials in our lives, but we must keep in mind that there is a God and He loves us and will not give up on us. We shouldn’t give up on ourselves or our dreams either. Rest if you must but don’t you quit! No other personal quality contributes to success more than faith in our God and after that perseverance and an attitude of work don’t worry.
Psalms 58:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
September 5 2016 – Click here to listen