It was at that point, while I was sitting at my desk in a semi-corporate (remember, progressive) office that I realized I could no longer do this. After fighting through my military career, focusing to acquire a skill set which would allow me to obtain a job in a software firm, and fighting through job applications and interviews to obtain a ‘job that I would want’, I realized that it was not that I wanted to use my focus for a different company. I wanted to leave this type of ‘organization’ altogether.
Or so I thought. My father once gave me some wise advice. He told me that everytime I feel that overpowering urge to quit that I should wait a week and reevaluate my feelings. In an analogous methodology, Abraham Lincoln would often write ‘hot letters’ to those individuals who have incurred some good old fashioned righteous anger. A quote from a biography which was quoted in the Huffington Post:
Before sending the letter, which he knew would leave Meade disconsolate, Lincoln held back as he often did when he was upset or angry, waiting for his emotions to settle. In the end, he placed the letter in an envelope inscribed: 'To Gen. Meade, never sent, or signed.'"
And so Gen Meade wasn’t berated, disheartened, or depressed, and good ole Honest Abraham Lincoln kept his cool. In the same vein, I chose to keep my cool and wait my emotions out. And once I did I discovered something amazing: my problems were not with the company.
For all of the ‘time’ that I was losing being at work, I was wasting even more at home not pursuing the things that I wanted to accomplish. It is important that we carve the life we want out of the life we have. And it behooves each individual to live life in a way that gratifies what they love.
So I never sent my resignation letter, and Lincoln never sent his letter of agitation. But not sending does not equate to not thinking or writing, it just means that a conscious decision to not allow our emotions to control the actions around us. This is not a habit yet for me in many aspects, but I have realized that as I practice this I become more consistent and continue to live the life that I want to live.
Now how does this deal with language learning? Don’t quit what you love, ever. Even when it seems like you can’t go in anymore. Even when it seems like you are not making progress or are not in a situation where you can make any progress. Instead of quitting your life and your job, making your life and your job work for you. You’re smart, you’re resourceful, and you’re right. Just do it, and the life you want will follow.
