I’m sitting in my kitchen in suburban Ohio right now, it’s 3:17 a.m., the fridge is humming like it’s judging me, and there’s a half-eaten bag of Takis turning my fingers radioactive orange. My dog just farted and left the room in shame. This is the glamorous backdrop where I’m writing about never giving up, because if I can triumph against all odds from this exact chair, literally anyone can.
That Time I Almost Let Never Giving Up Kill Me (Yeah, Really)
Two years ago I was 60 pounds heavier, freshly divorced, sleeping on my mom’s couch in Dayton, and making $11 an hour answering phones for a roofing company. I’d cry in the work bathroom listening to sad boy playlists—real attractive. One night I ate an entire family-size Stouffer’s lasagna and chased it with a bottle of $7 wine, then googled “how to disappear in the woods.” That’s how close I was to giving up completely. https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-to-bounce-back-from-a-setback
But something stupid and stubborn in me whispered, “Nah, not yet.” So I started walking. Just around the block at first, wheezing like a busted accordion. Then I signed up for a 5K while still clinically obese because why not make it worse? Race day, it poured freezing rain, my shoes were literally duct-taped, and I finished dead last—by 23 minutes. The volunteers were packing up cones while I limped across the finish line looking like a drowned raccoon. But I finished. That soggy medal still hangs on my rear-view mirror as proof that never give up can be ridiculous and humiliating and still count. https://hbr.org/2018/10/how-to-bounce-back-from-a-setback
The Business That Almost Bankrupted Me (Twice)
Fast)
Fast-forward: I decided to start an online store selling sarcastic Christian t-shirts because apparently rock bottom has a basement. First year? Made $400 total and spent $18,000. I was selling shirts that said “Jesus Loves This Hot Mess” while stress-eating gas-station taquitos at 3 a.m. and refreshing my bank app waiting for overdraft fees to hit.
Everyone sane told me to quit. My dad actually said, “Honey, maybe retail isn’t your gift.” Savage. But that tiny rebellious voice came back: never give up, idiot. So I learned TikTok on zero sleep, filmed videos in my messy buns with my kid screaming in the background, and accidentally went viral with a shirt that says “Turn Your Panic Attacks Into Worship Sessions.” Suddenly orders exploded. Like, “sleeping in the warehouse on an air mattress” exploded. Last month we cleared six figures. Still feels fake.
Why Never Give Up Feels Like a Lie Sometimes (And That’s Okay)
Here’s the raw truth: triumph against all odds isn’t pretty. It’s panic attacks in Target, ugly-crying to Taylor Swift in traffic, gaining ten pounds every time Mercury is in retrograde (or whatever). It’s texting your ex “k” at 1 a.m. then immediately blocking them again. It’s progress and backslides and progress again until you wanna scream. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579396/
But the secret nobody says out loud? The days you wanna give up are actually the compound interest of resilience. Every time you don’t, it stacks. Like, I still have meltdowns, but now they last 20 minutes instead of 20 days. Progress, baby.
Little Ways I Trick Myself Into Never Giving Up On Bad Days
- I text myself voice memos that just say “you’re still here, good job queen”
- Keep a “brag jar” with notes of tiny wins (yes I paid a bill on time! I didn’t yell at that Karen!)
- Have a breakup playlist AND a comeback playlist ready to go
- Eat the damn donut. Shame spirals are heavier than calories
Look, I’m still a chaotic gremlin who forgets to water plants and occasionally drunk-buys domain names at 2 a.m. But I’m a chaotic gremlin who kept going when everything said stop. And if this hot mess from Ohio can claw her way to triumph against all odds, seriously, you can too. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-resilience-2795059
So tell me in the comments—what’s the ugliest, realest moment you almost gave up but didn’t? Spill the tea, I need to know I’m not alone in this dumpster fire we call resilience.
(And if you’re there right now eating cold pizza in your car and googling “is it too late”—it’s not. Put the phone down, text someone you love “I’m struggling,” and take the tiniest step. I believe in you more than I believe in myself most days, and that’s saying something.)
Never give up, fam. Or at least… not today. Tomorrow we can reassess. 😅
