When was the last time you failed at something? When was the last time you quit something? These aren't pretty questions but let's get real for a second. We all experience failure and quitting (or discontinuing something, as I like to call it). Society says these are bad things. So we try the best we can to hide it and push on but sometimes we just can't. Whether that be physically or mentally, we just can't.
I was asked to work on a short film as an assistant producer a few months ago. It was going to be filmed on the Warner Brother's lot and it was a great opportunity to hone my craft and make connections. Well guess what. I got fired less than a week after working for the producer. I felt like such a failure. I felt ashamed and embarrassed and lower than dirt.
Failure sucks a lot! But let me tell you something, it is one of the times in life where, if we are opened to it, we grow the most. Looking back on my short 23 years (at least the first 4 of them I don't even remember), failure has always been followed by growth. Whether that be small growth or, like this last time, major growth. But it's partly because of failure that I am who I am today.
Quitting is just as difficult to handle, partly because it has such a bad connotation to it, which I understand. But that puts people who need to quit, for whatever reason, in a tough spot. I had a friend who was recently forced to quit her job in order to protect her mental health. It was a horrible work environment with a bunch of crappy people. But when she quit, she felt like she didn't work hard enough or that she could've done more. Let me tell you, she worked plenty hard at this job to the point where she was willing to take the social abuse. Now I'm making this sound a little more dramatic but this is how she felt. Yes, there are lazy people in the world who quit just cause they feel like it, but that ruins it for everyone else who has legitimate reasons to quit.
Society says quitting is bad, but we can't generalize everyone's story. My friend needed to quit, and that's not reflective of her lack of effort. Instead, I think it shows her courage and self-awareness. Those that know themselves well enough to know that they can't handle whatever they are doing for whatever reasons is huge. But acting on that self-awareness takes an unrecognized amount of courage, which is hardly the conclusion people jump to when they hear of someone quitting.
What would happen if we started looking at failure and quitting in a positive light instead of a negative one? Failing is great. Quitting for the right reasons is incredible. It has happened or will happen to everyone. So let's stop feeling ashamed for being human and see the positive so that those who follow in our foot steps can live a different life in a different world.