Quit Trying, Just Quit

Ever thought quitting might just be the most sane decision you make? This episode challenges the traditional narrative of perseverance, suggesting that embracing our imperfections and recognizing when to walk away could lead to unexpected revelations about our purpose. What happens when you strip away the glossy motivational speeches and confront the raw, unedited truth of the human experience? Through a blend of humor and stark honesty, I recount my eye-opening experience at a recovery workshop, where candid confessions collided with the deep-seated human need for acknowledgment. We traverse the thin line between self-awareness and self-deception, questioning the often-unexamined paths we've chosen and the truths we habitually sidestep.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.

Speaker 2: 0:35

Greetings and salutations. This is Lyndon Wolfe and you have reached here for the Memories, my audio memoir. Glad to have you. Hope you come by and visit and listen often Always good to have company. What you're going to hear today probably would not come out of the mouth of Norman Vincent Peale or Tony Robbins or any other bobbleheads psychobabble bobbleheads that tell you everything is good and things's perfect, you can change everything, you can be better at everything.

Speaker 1: 1:08

They are wrong.

Speaker 2: 1:11

I was once a helper at a recovery workshop. I listened as recovering addicts publicly shared about their addictions. One man started with drugs and alcohol, but in his five-minute diatribe he admitted to no less than a dozen other addictions. The dude was addicted to everything. It was as if he was glorying in or reveling in his weakness and failure, and with every new revelation the audience urged him on, nodding their heads in approval and even shouting Amen. Can you imagine? The woman who would later share that she was a nymphomaniac which, by the way, sharpened the attention of almost every man in the room said Amen.

Speaker 2: 1:55

When this confessor admitted to an addiction to pornography and I am not making this up For some reason. I don't see how this was helpful, but the room was filled with folks eager to bare their soul and admit failure. I left hoping I was addicted to avoiding such meetings. Trust me when I say this is not what this episode is about, although confessional and raw. I don't rejoice in my inability, but I'm also not going to deny it. What is the well-known definition of insanity? Trying to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? It doesn't work. If this is the case, bring in the men in the little white coats and let them strap me into a straight jacket and lock me in a rubber room.

Speaker 2: 2:47

I said from the beginning that this audio memoir would be warts and all that. I feared painting a picture of me in my life. That was a better version than reality, but here is some raw truth. Although I'm going to be intentionally ambiguous, what I'm going to say might be Something that resonates with you. I don't want to get so specific that innocent people get hurt or that I get so detailed. You don't ponder this in your own life, but in areas different than mine. So why would I say, just quit, because sometimes that's the best, if not the only option.

Speaker 2: 3:28

What do you do when you're faced with a reality that there is a truth you can't escape, no matter how many lies you tell yourself? Oh, you've known about it and you've thought about it, you've talked about it, you've even prayed about it, but you've never admitted 100% that it was true. For the sake of self-preservation, you just couldn't bring yourself to do that. But you are destined to fail in this area, and if you don't acknowledge it, there will be always someone in your life to remind you. But as the chorus endlessly repeats and the echo resounds interminably. You must finally break down and admit that it is irrefutable.

Speaker 2: 4:12

Finally break down and admit that it is irrefutable that even in your finest moments you fail and you fall woefully short of anything that could be deemed acceptable. Even though you desperately care about the outcome. You flat out just don't have what it takes to get it right, or even right enough. Try as you may and try is the operative word here your best efforts never stack up. Defeat and self-loathing will eventually kick in. Even the jacket and the padded room won't allow you to escape your thoughts and emotions as you ponder your failure. Please don't perceive this as a cry for help or a hint at self-harming. That's not the case at all. God has kept me on this planet because I'm really good at annoying people. That gives me purpose enough purpose to want to hang around.

Speaker 2: 4:59

Even though you need to quit trying in that critical area, there are others that you don't fail as badly at. You can now turn your attention to rejoicing in the areas where you can claim mediocrity rather than absolute failure, or you can redouble your efforts at annoying people. At least that's what I'm going to do. But first I must quit trying, admit, conquest, capitulate to reality. Wave the white flag and drop my weapons of self-defense. Quit trying in those areas where I will never succeed. Eliminate, wave the white flag and drop my weapons of self-defense. Quit trying in those areas where I will never succeed. Eliminate them and focus on my efforts in areas where I might possibly reach the level of average. Okay, without raising your hand or turning this into another 12-step program confessional. Where do you need to quit trying? There is something and you know it. It's buried, probably under well-rehearsed lies, lies like I will eventually get it right, or quitting is not an option. Or even I am much better in this area than I'm told that I am, but you're not. They're right, the naysayers. So I say to you find that area, admit defeat and quit trying so I don't become a living example of the definition of insanity. That's exactly what I'm going to do, in other words, quit.

Speaker 2: 6:28

This is Lyndon Wolfe and you have visited here for the Memories, my audio memoir. Glad you stopped by and I hope you have a great rest of the day or evening or week or whatever period of time you would like to attach to that comment. Well, one last thing, just to lighten the mood a bit. Here are the lyrics of a song from 1966 that I remember it's by Napoleon XIV. It's called they're Coming to Take Me Away, ha Ha. Look it up sometime You'll get a kick out of it. They're coming to take me away, ha ha. They're coming to take me away, ho ho, he, he ha ha, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats. And they're coming to take me away, ha ha ha ha, hello friends.

Speaker 1: 7:23

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