The message in this article comes to me at the perfect time:
By no means am I suggesting that there always comes a time when it’s time to quit a sport or a training pursuit. I am simply suggesting that you take time to reflect with honesty and courage on how this pursuit is working out for you. Are you generally inspired and jazzed by your training, or are there more days than not when you feel drained, tired, defeated? Motivation level is a critical indicator, not only of how well you are likely to do at a sport, but also of how positive the effects of your involvement are. If you are feeling unmotivated, it can be a sign that your emotional, psychological, and physical needs are not being met by participation in your sport, and it can also be a result of excessive stress and not enough success to feed your system. (see reference below: James Loehr’s book on Toughness Training has a nice section on low motivation). How about social indicators? Are your social connections being maintained in healthy ways, or are you finding that you are throwing yourself so heavily into your training that relationships outside of it have dwindled? Physical signs are equally important. Is your body responding in ways that show improvement, or are you constantly fighting injuries or pretending you don’t have pain when you walk?
This kind of self-reflection is critical for ongoing happiness, development, and health. Of course there are some commitments that are non-negotiable. Parenting is one of them. You can’t decide a few years in that it’s just not working out for you because the effort outweighs the upsides. But most of us give a lot of ourselves to some other endeavor, and I’m arguing that it’s worth assessing the results of this at any given time. Given that we only go around once, figuring out when it might be time to step away from something—maybe forever and maybe just for a while—is probably a really smart thing to do. Leaving something behind makes room for something new, which is awesome. But let’s not jump right into that. There is much to be learned from allowing ourselves the gift of time, space, and the capacity for more. The next great thing will find its way in, and it just might be the very thing you had to leave behind in order to figure that out.