Imagine yourself being a well-known king for being smart, competent, courageous, and a great tactician of wars. Your people keep looking up to you with admiration, and even your rival leaders are envious of how you manage to expand and protect your kingdom. Your name just resonates everywhere, your name is recognized, and you're one of the people they feared of.
Being a wise leader gives you a lot of victories. You and your people won a lot of wars that made your kingdom wealthy in lands and treasures but just like what we usually read in the books and watch in the movies you became thirsty for power, connection, and influence. You became uncontented. So one day, you decided to meet your people or troops and asked them to prepare for the war. You will grab the opportunity of conquering other kingdoms to widen territories. You explained to them your tactics and plans and with proper execution, you are confident to achieve the victory in your hands once again.
You decided to attack at night thinking that it was the best chance to seize enemies. But to your surprise, the enemies appeared to be prepared. It was unexpected but as the confident king you are, you believe that you will still win. The war began to happen, the sounds of swords clashing with each other, arrows hitting the wooden and metal shields, and screams of people are the only thing that can be heard in the dark midnight sky. After a long time, you noticed that you're force and manpower are not enough to win this battle, and you are also outnumbered but thinking that backing out is not in your vocabulary you continued to fight.
In the end, you lose. The once feared king was defeated. It's too late to have regrets now because you chose to proceed with the battle thinking that you will win the game.
This short story just wants us to remember that the most important thing that we all should learn and apply to our life is to know when to continue and when to stop. Sometimes not knowing how to do that will cause failures. Failures that will lead to disappointments and setbacks.
Stopping When it comes to love
All of us dream to have a happy and healthy relationship. Who wouldn't like to be in that position, right? But what if you are in a relationship wherein you are not both happy anymore? There are constant fights, there are a lot of misunderstandings, and the communication is poorly practiced. Do you think the relationship will continue to grow? Do you think it will last? For me, I don't think it's possible. You can attempt to fix it multiple times if you love the person but if it doesn't work or if you feel like you are the only person who's fighting for that relationship, I believe that ending or stopping it is the best choice Not only to save yourself from heartaches but also because you know what your worth is, and you know what you deserve. Don't settle for less because you deserve the best.
Stopping when it comes to career
Are you happy with what you are doing? Are you growing and learning? Do you love what you are accomplishing? Or you are stressed, sad, drained, or you find yourself not liking what you do but keeping yourself going? I remember what my parents told me, they said that If I'm not happy anymore don't force myself to like it. Instead chose the things that make me happy and feel motivated. In that way, I can guarantee that I will enjoy and learn. And you know what? The more I think of it, the more I agree with them. It is hard to love something if your heart doesn't yearn for it or your mind doesn't desire it. You will just feel like a robot that functions every day and do the tasks assigned to you like a cycle.
Always choose what makes you happy and know when it is time to let go. It is not cowardice to stop if you think you have to halt.
Stopping when it comes to health
We are all familiar with the saying "Health is Wealth". It is the only thing that can't be bought even if you have tons of money in your bank. Once it deteriorates it will be hard or impossible to replenish it back.
My parents especially my mother advised us not to smoke cigarettes. They are aware of the effects of it on a body of a person and how it can destroy your lungs. Cigarettes are the cause why my grandfather, my mother's father passed away. Even if they advised my grandfather to stop that habit, my grandfather still didn't listen to them. Until one day, his condition worsens. That is the time he decided to stop but it's already late.
I am not against those people who are smoking, drinking alcohol, or what. But I want you to remember that it is okay to do that but in moderation. Preventing or stopping your bad habits now will prevent regrets in the future.
