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Should I Give Up?

I almost gave up on today’s newsletter. And I almost gave up on writing a newsletter altogether. Let me tell you what happened. Friday’s Digest #123

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It's a Thursday night.

Half a day before this newsletter is published.

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And I haven't written it yet.

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This has never happened before.

I've written 122 issues so far, never last minute.

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But here I am, standing on the roof, trying to unclog a pipe.

You see, it's been raining heavily for days, and the roof drainage pipe is clogged with mud. I have standing water on my roof.

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It all happened after 2 weeks of craziness. 2 weeks of driving back and forth between our old apartment and our newer one.

2 weeks of very little sleep.

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I've been trying to unclog this pipe for 3 hours now, using a long spring my neighbors brought me. And it’s freezing cold on the roof.

I called several plumbers, but none are available tonight.

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Then a thought crossed my mind:

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Why won't I just give up?

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Why not wait until Sunday for a plumber?

But here I am, covered in dark fluid, freezing, still trying to unclog this pipe myself.

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And then it hit me: I haven't written tomorrow's newsletter!

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Why won't I just give up?

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Perhaps just this once, I won't write a newsletter?

Maybe, just this once, I'll give myself a break.

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It would be just one newsletter.

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And then another thought crossed my mind: Maybe it's time to stop writing this newsletter altogether?

It would free up so much of my time.

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I could watch TV instead— something I haven't done in years.

Or I could go to bed earlier— something I haven't done in decades.

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So you see, it's a slippery slope.

You give up just once, and it becomes easier to give up again. And again.

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I give up once, and this newsletter is no longer "EVERY Friday."

I give up once, and the bond I have with my readers will never be the same.

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I give up once, and I will forever regret it.

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People say life isn't black and white— that it's not 0 or 1.

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I disagree.

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We need things we can trust.

We need things that will always be there.

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We need things that don't disappoint us.

We need people who stay true to their word.

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It may be just a newsletter.

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But this newsletter is here, every Friday. Come rain or shine.

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Even if the rain clogged my pipe on a Thursday night.

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See you next week!

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Epilogue

If you received this newsletter from a friend and would like to join Friday's Digest, visit https://newsletter.shaysharon.com​

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That’s it for this issue.

See you next week!

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Shay

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