Episode 18 – If You Feel Like Giving Up (ft. Abe Lopez)

Episode 18 – If You Feel Like Giving Up (ft. Abe Lopez)

Episode 18 of the VulnerABILITY Podcast is for anyone who feels like giving up, for anyone facing deep grief, or for anyone at the end of their rope and struggling to hold on. Host Marisa Donnelly and guest Abe Lopez share their personal experiences, anecdotes, and thoughts on moving forward, even if it’s only one baby step at a time.

The truth of the matter is, everyone has moments where they want to quit. Everyone has days where they don’t feel like continuing, or that they don’t have the strength to. In this podcast episode, Abe and I tackle these emotions head-on—not only to validate others’ emotions, but to acknowledge that feeling broken, lost, or stressed is a part of the process.

Highlights From the Episode:

[12:40] “I know what I’m capable of. And I know that I’m far more capable than I give myself credit for… [So] give yourself so much more credit than you think you’re due.”

[15:35] “Is there something, or rather, is there someone in your life who has influence over you or who has really inspired you? Can you find the motivation for them? Can you keep going for them?”

[16:00] “Even if you don’t know in this moment, find the motivation in the future. Where do you see yourself down the road? Where do you want to be? What kind of people do you want around you? What kind of family do you want to have? …When we look to the future, it helps us get rid of some of the toxic things that we’re unconsciously surrounding ourselves by. And that can help pull us out of a hole, too.”

[16:30] “Until we look forward and [look] to where we want to go, we don’t notice the things that are keeping us from that place.”

[17:25] “God finds us in our hardest times and brings us out of those times… In those [negative] moments, that’s where God comes in and changes things… You’re in a desert right now, but God meets you in the desert.”

[18:35] “If you’re spinning in a circle, sometimes the circle is going to face the bad part, and sometimes it’s going to face the good part… It’s always going to come back around. It’s a circle.”

[18:40] “You could be at the lowest point right now, and feel like you want to quit, but then find some little thing… and let it just give you one step.”

[19:10] “We want to give up… because we see ourselves at ‘Point A’ and ‘Point B’ is 2,000 miles down the road. [But] you don’t need to jump from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B.’ Take one step, and then another, and then another until you get there. It’s not about sprinting, it’s about the slow steps. It’s just about not giving up… So just encourage yourself that one step is enough.”

[21:00] “Think about all the times where you could have given up. That could have totally changed the direction of your entire story… You have to find whatever it is to keep going.”

The Biggest Takeaway:

The truth of every hardship is that it’s impermanent. The goal is to move forward and keep yourself level-headed, even when you just want to throw in the towel. Have patience and take things step by step.

To listen to more episodes of the VulnerABILITY Podcast, click here.