Uprising, or why you should just give up

I recently finished Erwin McManus' Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul. In general, I appreciate his straightforward style and non-sissy Christianity. Unfortunately, I have nothing to say about this particular book. Nothing good, nothing bad. All I learned was that taking too long to finish a book is just as pointless as not finishing at all.

I started the book in February of this year, meaning it took nine months or so to get through it. In the meantime, I started and finished about 20 other books (give or take). I did a lot of other stuff, too: traveled, played with my kids, worked, slept, listened to podcasts, etc. So by the time I got to the end of the book, the conclusion had no meaning because I lost the point somewhere back in April.

Why am I sharing this? Partly because I thought I should write a review of the book and this is the best I can come up with. Mostly, though, I want to share some advice:

Give up.

That's right, give up. Sometimes the payoff of finishing something simply does not justify the cost. Many times we know that subconsciously, which is why we procrastinate. Then we pay a cost of guilt without even the meager reward of finishing. Plus, there is the opportunity cost of not doing something really valuable because we are too well conditioned to never give up.

What do you need to give up? A book? (Crime and Punishment has been haunting me for a decade.) A project? (A workshop in my garage? What workshop?) A relationship? (No examples from me on this one right now.) Go ahead, you have my permission. Give up and move on. You'll be glad you did.