THE QUITTER

During an extremely trying time of my life, I received a poem in a letter from one of my siblings. This poem changed my life.

You see, I served an LDS mission in Lisbon, Portugal. Aside from extreme difficulties with the language, I was somewhat homesick and battling a bad case of pneumonia, which almost caused me to lose the use of one of my lungs. And on top of all that, I wasn’t 100% sure what I believed religiously.

I never gave serious thought about quitting and giving up on my mission. I think in the back of my head I knew that things would be fine; I would eventually stop wanting to be home with my family, I knew I get over my pneumonia soon, and that I would figure out my faith. But that being said, it was still hard. I was still scared and confused. There was still so much unknown.

The fear of the unknown has been a prevalent theme throughout my life. I am the type of person who likes to have things planned out. When things are out of my hands, or when I am left in the dark, I grow both anxious and frustrated. 

It is in these difficult times that I read this inspirational  poem.

The Quitter
by Robert William Service

When you’re lost in the Wild, and you’re scared as a child,
And Death looks you bang in the eye,
And you’re sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and . . . die.
But the Code of a Man says: “Fight all you can,”
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . .
It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.

“You’re sick of the game!” Well, now, that’s a shame.
You’re young and you’re brave and you’re bright.
“You’ve had a raw deal!” I know — but don’t squeal,
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don’t be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit:
It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten — and die;
It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight —
Why, that’s the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try — it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.