During my silly pre-teen years, it used to crack my side to watch childbirths on TV. Told you I was special lol. There was nothing funny about the births per se, it was the sound of the grunts, moans, and groans of the mothers that would take me and my girlfriends over the top. I know – pre-teens.
“Eww, she sounds like she’s using the bathroom!” My Mama, shaking her head, would simply tell us, “Yeah, you girls keep living…wait till YOU have to push.”
She was right. It wasn’t so funny 13 years later having natural childbirth – unplanned, by accident – because we almost didn’t make it to the hospital in time.
Trust me. There are some situations and seasons in life where, it’s not a matter of IF you’ll moan, scream, yell, or grunt – it’s WHEN. And, other than childbirth, one of those seasons is when you decide to quit long-standing, negative behaviors, and make a positive change in your life.
Ever watch a heated tennis match, and the players make a grunting noise or screech when they hit the ball?
That, my friends, is the “Roar”. Everyone has one, even a different one depending on the circumstance. It may be deep down inside, maybe you’ve never met it before, or you feel you’re too reserved to “Roar” – keep living, it’s in you. You won’t have to force it, or practice it. That audible release of power, tension, struggle may very well leap out of you – without your permission.
And sometimes it takes that. We all know how deeply rooted some of our Love contradictions are: did you think your make-up would stay neatly in place on a “quitting” journey? Or that your hair (or wig or weave) wouldn’t get ruffled in the wind of change? Life gets real, folks.
Now, I’m not implying that as Quitters, we all go around yelling and screaming in public. But a private “Roar” is an acceptable response when:
- You feel you’re at the point of no hope, strength, or will to go on — Roar!
- You feel stifled and pent up; you’ve reached the capacity to keep things bottled up inside — Roar!
- You know you’re not inhaling and exhaling as you should — Roar!
Once you’ve got your “Roar’ on, it is in the quiet aftermath, that place of stillness where it becomes clear the reasons why you needed to “Roar”, and the next steps to take to make it a little farther in your journey.
Sometimes freedom has to be taken by force. You have to get ugly with it to find the beauty. You’ve got to get loud with it to find the peace. Keep on pushing, Quitters…there’s a healing “Roar” inside to make it much better.
Dear Love, I Quit! 