Too Quick to Quit…?
January 1, 1970
One of our most pressing problems concerns the perplexities of young people as they wonder what they can count on. And this we would say to you who are young and who can’t quite seem to settle down in an unsettled situation: Perhaps you cannot now foresee the completion of your plans. Perhaps the course you had set for yourselves may be interrupted. We are well aware that it is difficult to settle down in uncertain situations. But sometimes young people are too quick to quit – because of discouragement, because of boredom, because of uncertainties, or because of a certain restlessness inside themselves, and often they assume that it will be easier to pursue their preparation sometime in the future rather than take advantage of immediate opportunities. But as the years increase, responsibilities also increase, and the road of learning looks longer later. And the needless postponement of preparation often merely means a piling up of unaccomplished purposes. Unavoidable interruptions may come to any of us or to all of us. But should we let the weeks and months waste away because the future seems unsettled? Should we quit our constructive pursuits today because we may have to quit tomorrow, or should we pursue our course as far as we can? In any case, quitting, giving up, should not be a matter of momentary emotion, but a matter for serious consideration – because the best time to prepare for later life is at our earliest opportunity. And it would seem shortsighted to let the fear that we won’t have time, take from us the time we have. If we keep moving to whatever end we can, we will come closer to arriving at what we want. In short, the uncertainties that may come tomorrow should not make us waste the time we have today.