It has generally been touch and go as far as giving up on matters that many people simply take for granted. But, I have the advantage of not giving up under some circumstances when the average bear (always the damned bears) would have.
In contexts of a positive nature, I've never regretted resisting the temptation to give up, and I've always regretted giving in to it. That may be the big obstacle to overcome in this life. When to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. One of those lessons that recur like a strange dream.
It made me sad to see that sense of defeat overcome the New England coach when there was over five minutes left in the game against the Saints. I've seen even San Diego come back in similar situations. Certainly I would have thought they'd try. Instead he just threw in the second string and called it a day. Maybe there was good reason but I hate to see successful people toss in the towel without a fight to the bitter end. I'll have to keep that in mind for my own life.
Pro football interests me this year. There are years when I don't pay attention. This year is good. I like the prevalence of clever tactics and abundance of outstanding quarterbacks. Also the mini dramas, like the incredible Favre revival. And the rise of the traditional pushover Saints.
People can say what they want but I would absolutely go for it if I were young enough and talented enough that I had a shot at being a millionaire pro player. Any specialized highly physical form of entertainment is like that, I think. Getting paid for an adrenalin rush. Only a few achieve that level. Hence the big bucks. That, and the fact that there is a demand.
I suppose the concept of nature and how supply and demand are forces of nature is not commonly given any credence by most people any more. It's just physics. Like differential pressure, nature abhors a vacuum and all that.
I always thought that a silly saying, but they said it in science classes; nature abhors a vacuum. And I abhorred being in that classroom. That was when I realized that there was a whole cadre of science and math professors who would do anything they could to obscure the concepts being taught because it fed their ego to be over your head.
The real tedium in those subjects is deciphering the code they use when teaching it. The material itself is not that tough. After all, someone else already figured the stuff out, proved the theories and derived the equations. One of those cases in which giving up is a mistake. A perfect chance to rob The (pompous science/math) Man of his cheap thrills.
The Man comes in many disguises.
Speaking of The Man and disguises, no need to give up on the misanthropic approach to climate just because some of the top dogs got caught jiggling data and scheming to silence inquiry and disagreement in the scientific community.
One can go on hating his own species and supporting tyrants who despise individual freedom and the greatness of others. No need to give up on that just when the masses have been conditioned into dependence and subjugation.
It is tempting.
