I am a Grade A quitter. Part of it is ADHD and part of it is just my curious nature. I like to “try” things. It doesn’t mean I’m committed to becoming a master at it but I do want to TRY it.

All of my life people tried to shame me for trying and quitting. “If you’d just stick with it you’d get really good at it and make money with it.” “Why bother starting that, you’ll just quit.” “Do you ever finish anything?”

I used to feel bad about my quitting nature. Truly ashamed. But I don’t any more. Why? Because I have decided that I’ve punished myself enough for one lifetime. Sticking things out, powering through, putting myself last just to keep going with something I truly don’t enjoy. Enough. I quit.

Here are some things I’ve quit so far in 2023.

Unfulfilling relationships. When I feel like I’m the one who nearly always makes the drive, makes the plans, rearranges my schedule, texts, calls, etc. Or friendships where I feel constantly judged, instructed, misunderstood, or therapized. Quit.

Dieting. I am trying to be more mindful of what I eat and why but I’m not “on a diet.” I eat and drink what makes my body feel good and function as well as possible. I have learned that with fibro some foods make me hurt more. I haven’t eliminated them entirely but I’ve cut way back. But diet? Yeah, I quit that.

Shopping as recreation. I actually started on this the middle of last year but as of this year I have removed all of the shopping apps from my phone. Being a single home owner (a blog post coming on that someday) is expensive and I don’t want to put myself in a deep hole of debt. It’s tough because I do love pretty things but filling my little house with junk is no good either.

Social media. While this is one I haven’t totally quit I have cut way, way back. I’ve put timers on the few apps I do have and I’ve found myself leaving my phone in another room and then having to remember where I put it. It’s not in my hand all of the time any more. I realize that while I do get some value out of social media like keeping up with friends and being inspired by creative people I am also bombarded by adds and negativity. I’m finding that too much scrolling makes me feel more anxious, and seems to sap my energy. Especially my creative energy. I don’t need it.

Coffee. That was a big one. I have always loved the way coffee smells but not the taste. Then I got breast cancer and had a huge pile of design deadlines that had to be met. I found that if I put lots of sweet creamers in coffee I could drink it and get the caffeine + sugar boost and have the energy to knock out some work. Then earlier this year I tried drinking it black and I hated it. I figured that if I could only drink it full of sweet syrupy creamers then it wasn’t the coffee I liked but the creamer. I went back to tea. Lots cheaper, a little less caffeine which my anxiety appreciates, and a lot less sugar.

Busyness. I have always been a go, go, go kind of woman. This one is a tough one to quit in our culture but I’m working on cutting back. I have days where I curl up with my pup, a book, and some tea and read contentedly for hours only to then feel bad that I haven’t accomplished anything. But I’m learning that I NEED those days. The last quarter of 2022 I worked an average of 48 hours a week. Add in laundry, groceries, cleaning and all of the other stuff that NEEDS to get done to keep a home running and I really need that down time to keep me going. It’s a tough one to balance but I also know that if I do too much I feel like garbage. I’m working on this one.

That damn weaving in the photo above. I’ve tried warping that loom THREE times and then I found this on the latest try. A missed hole. I think this project is way beyond my capabilities and I’m about to cut it off the loom for the third time and find a more beginner friendly project. I quit. I think. Or maybe I’ll give it another try?

That’s the thing about quitting, sometimes you can go back to it and try it again. Sometimes you have to learn the lesson and move on. Sometimes you don’t need to quit altogether but find a healthy balance.

What about you? What have you quit? What would you like to quit?