On more than a few occasions, I have been told that I am "loyal to a fault."
The fault being that I tend to stay with people and things through thick and thin... and thin, and thin, and thin.
Which isn't always a good or emotionally healthy thing to do!
I suppose part of my troubles arise from (seemingly!) having difficulty viewing something that seems to be "not working" through any lens of perception other than "this downturn is a TEMPORARY situation."
As such, it has been a great challenge for me to arrive at the place where I actually admit that something that seems to be "not working" truly is NOT WORKING.
Perhaps this excessively loyalty stems from experiencing a childhood where there seemed to be no loyalty whatsoever, and things (that were important to me, at the time) being just randomly and willy-nilly thrown away without fanfare... leaving me often feeling like my world was one long experience of pervasive loss.
I made up my mind at an early age that I did not want to become "that person" who just throws in the towel as soon as the slightest bit of turbulence or discomfort arises.
What gradually turned out to be problematic was that — as I aged — I was very slow to learn that those things/people in which I was interested but who seemed to have little "following" (to use a modern social media analogy) were typically that way for a reason.
Sometimes loyalty is misplaced on things it had better steer clear of.
It could be the genius new invention you really believe could change the world, but it has been brought to the world by people with zero sense of business or marketing, and thus is doomed to eternal obscurity, no matter how brilliant it might be.
Or it could be the relationship with someone who seems perfect "on paper," but who possesses certain toxic habits combined with a stradfast refusal to engage in any kind of introspection or self-inquiry.
Or it could be "that thing you do," at which you are exceptionally skilled and talented, and everyone around you keeps appreciating that you are "among the very best" but nobody actually cares to the point where they open their wallets to buy it.
I have been guilty of inhabiting this space many times in my life... from staying 13 years in a marriage that ended after three, to holding on to a business that seemed viable but kept encountering one (external) disaster after another... and then failing to recognize that there was (figuratively speaking) "no runway left" for it to take off.
In time, I very slowly learned that leaving a definitely sinking ship was not a case of giving up too soon, but instead a rather important self-preservation skill.
I still struggle to step away from life's sinking ships, but I am learning!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great Friday!
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Created at 2025.12.12 01:30 PST
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