Ring The Bell

When you are truly faced with a challenge…At the end of your wits… After you have given your all… Will you quit? Or keep going despite it all?

In the middle of the US Navy SEAL training compound there’s a bell.

During the training week, nicknamed hell week, all you have to do to quit, make the suffering stop, is walk up and ring the bell.

Simple. It’s done. It’s over. You’re out.

Now in the real world, it’s harder. There is no bell.

There isn’t usually the public shame and disgrace of walking up in front of everyone and declaring that you quit. There are only the quiet moments when you are alone, mentally battling yourself, wondering if it’s all worthwhile.

What I’ve learned, from both choosing to ring the bell, and choosing not to ring the bell, is not ringing the bell is the secret to living your dreams. It is the choice to be all you can be, and getting all you want in life.

Never, ever, ring the bell. You are where you are because of choices you’ve made in the past. If you don’t like your choices, change them, but don’t ever stop. Pivot, yes, absolutely. Adapt and adjust, of course, that’s a must. Quit? Never.

If you quit, there is no where to go from there.

If what you’re doing isn’t working, change it. Just don’t stop moving forward.

If you’re taken off your path, do your best to get back on it.

We all have the thoughts of quitting. It would be so much easier to stop, to quit, to give up. I’ve woken up, opened my eyes, and the first thing I want to do is burst into tears. But I get up, get going, and get on with it.

You’re probably thinking, and you’d be right, that it would be so much easier to lay down, and let the world pass you over. To quit. To ring the bell.

Don’t.

Adjust. Adapt. Learn and apply that learning.

Just know that it’s not easy to get where you want to go, and you’ll want to quit many times, but when you get there, it will all have been worth it.