I’ve never really been afraid of quitting. Not because I don’t care about the thing I’m leaving behind, but because of how I was raised. My mom had this approach to life that I think shaped me in the best way: she let me try everything and she let me quit everything.
When I was little, I hopped from ballet to jazz to gymnastics to karate like a tiny sampler platter of extracurricular activities. And when I didn’t like something anymore, or it just didn’t feel like me, my mom never pushed me to stick it out. She’d shrug and say, “Well, now you know. That one’s not for you.” And just like that, we’d move on.
It taught me something important: the only way to know what’s meant for you is to try new things. And the only way to know what’s not meant for you is to try new things.
I think a lot of us grow up believing that quitting is failure. That you’re weak if you don’t finish what you start. There is pressure to continue because you don’t want to look bad or have others judge or label you. But here’s the truth I’ve learned, sometimes finishing is the failure. Because your time and energy are your most valuable resources. My mom used to remind me, “Spend as little time as possible on things that don’t bring you joy.” And as I’ve gotten older I see how right she’s always been.
Starting something new can be so exciting, it can light you up and make you feel alive. But life shifts. We grow, we change, we enter new seasons. Sometimes the things that once made us so happy just doesn’t anymore. That doesn’t mean they were a mistake. It just means they were right for a certain version of you and now you’ve outgrown them.
And that’s okay. More than okay, actually, it’s healthy. Quitting isn’t giving up. It’s clearing space. It’s saying, “I value myself enough to make room for something better, something that fits me right now.”
So when I look back at little me, abandoning my leotard or walking away from the karate mat, I don’t see a quitter, I see a girl practicing the art of listening to herself.
Practicing the courage to walk away.
And honestly?
That’s the one thing I’m so glad I never quit.