Never Give Up Day
by Lesley A. Cross, MA, LPCC
I'm not a big social media poster. I don't share a lot. I don't often share trip photos, events, opinions or post my kids online. (I'm fine with those who do and enjoy celebrating with you from afar in your experiences too!) But in general, I guess I'm pretty private with my social media accounts. This privacy & locked box approach all works well for me professionally as a counselor. But 2020 has forced me to open up in ways I usually don't. To invite others in. To ask for help. And I've seen that in others too. We are craving connection. We are longing for moments together with others. We want to go to the deeper level and feel whole. Yet 2020 is challenging the ability to do so and we're left often with an uneasy pit in our stomachs.
Today is Never Give Up day. Yes, it's likely one of those days someone made up to celebrate something. There are also national taco days, dog days, bouncy ball days and really a day for everything else. But today's theme seems to have true meaning to me. And I hope it does for others too. 2020 has pushed us to our limits as individuals personally, professionally, within our relationships. We have been tested as families, within marriages, as citizens business owners, leaders, friends, students & athletes in ways we have not been tested or pushed before. We are working through what feels like "everything" in the mist of some of the most isolated times of our lives. I won't compare 2020 to the difficulty of prior generations nor will I say which is harder. They're all hard. But I will say that 2020 has been a challenge for all. And our learning curve has been steep. We don't like these days. It's not just COVID. It's not just the politics. It's not just the racial tension or hate we're fighting. It's not just the environmental decline or the fires, the welfare system, the schools, religious freedoms, gun laws, mandated closings or masks or not masks. It's not JUST any one thing. It's everything. We're trying to stay positive. To see the good. To seek the silver linings. But we're tired. We're pushing through still. We put a smile on our face. We have a virtual happy hour or try to salvage family times and take driving trips. We keep upbeat for the kids. We empathize with the educators trying to handle the continual changes. We adapt to do what we need to do to shop in one directions or curb side that or handle delays on this. We appreciate those providing connection moments but long for "normal". We try to maintain normal and go to work (or "go to work" in the dining room) or fear our jobs being eliminated- or have had to file for unemployment or switch gears mid career because we were let go. We play cruise director for children and balance all we were before on top of even more. Some days we just feel like we're done and it's all heavy. And we want to avoid it all.
Right now, the smallest of things feels like the biggest of things. Good & bad. We're just at our tipping points. Mental health is struggling. Depression & anxiety are telling us lie after lie. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and we all know the messages seem to change daily about what to expect, what will happen (in society, schools, the economy, businesses, sports, families, etc.) It's just a lot.
So today, Never Give Up Day, seems especially powerful to me to hold on to. We're not alone. Never Give Up day is about a mindset of determination to help us get through even the hardest of challenges. It's about motivating others, inspiring ourselves and remembering that even in hard times, the hardest, we can keep going. We're allowed to pause, to step back, reevaluate and gain perspective. We're allowed to ask for help. To seek ways of motivation. But we have to admit to ourselves, and our support systems, when we’re struggling and that it’s OK to feel overwhelmed.
Today - and hopefully every day- is about pushing forward with the never giving up mindset. Finding the good (small or large) and choosing to not let the external control our internal. We're better and bigger than that. Living intentionally is hard in a good moment. Living intentionally in 2020 is a challenge none of us have ever attempted before. I invite you to celebrate in the meaning of today - however you choose to do so- knowing we're not alone.
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/never-give-up-day/#:~:text=Never%20Give%20Up%20Day%20(18th%20August)%20%7C%20Days%20Of%20The%20Year