When your position is destroyed and learning when to quit

From MCDP 1 "Warfighting"

"Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held." —A. A. Vandegrift


Growing up I was always told not to give up. I've seen the movies, I've seen the posters. 

"Don't give up the ship." - U.S. Naval Academy Motto.

"You just can't beat the person who never gives up." - my roommates poster.

"Never back down never what? Never give up! Never back down NEVER WHAT?" - Fortnite meme.


I love the movie Monsters University which is a prequel to Monsters Inc. There's a scene where Mike Wazowski, the protagonist, comes to terms with his appearance and realizes that his dream of being a scarer is physically impossible. I think about his words a lot... almost every day now.

"I wanted it more than anyone. And I thought if I wanted it enough, I could show everyone that Mike Wazowski is something special. But I'm just... not." - Mike Wazowski

The movie is meant to convey that not everything goes to plan but I admire this movie especially because in a way they still show the truth of reality. Mike never became a scarer. Most movies show the character fails but eventually achieve their goal anyway through a miracle or other path and I hate that. Yes, the planned or desired path is not always going to be the path that you take. But that also doesn't mean that you will end up in the same place as desireds/planned. Sometimes the destination or goal changes ENTIRELY. Mike ends up working for Monsters Inc. as a scare assistant, not as a scarer.


I want to refer back to the quote that I included at the beginning. On the surface, it should look like another never give up quote. But actually I admire this quote a lot because of the first part. It says "positions are seldomly destroyed." It reminds me that sometimes, your position is destroyed. I hate wrestling with my head telling me to not give up. Sometimes, I don't know when to give up because that's what I've been told when I was growing up. But I realized now that sometimes, I do need to give up. 

I did everything I could to achieve my goals, my dreams. I tried my best and I stayed in the fight even when things started to go bad. I stuck with it until the end and when the end came—I took away the invaluable lessons. 

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