Why Giving Up and Failing Are the Same Thing

So, yesterday, I went to the Po'Boy Festival in New Orleans, LA. It was fantastic. I ate a pate and pickled vegetables po'boy (needed salt and pepper) and one of the most delicious garlic shrimp po'boys I'd ever crammed into my mouth. It was sunny and the mood was decidedly upbeat. I was with friends that I love and we got to discussing why I stayed in my previous relationship. And I said just what I said in my first post: I'd rather fail than give up. 

But I got to thinking as I said it that it's really the same thing. My friends helped me realize this. I mean, don't you fail when you give up? Do you give up when you fail? Of course, at some point, I must've said "I give up on trying to make this work". 

What I really meant all along is that I am not one who gives up easily. I am tenacious about relationships. I believe they are hard work. I feel you must put effort into them. And when someone fucks up, you have to forgive (there is a line, of course, but everyone deserves a second chance for the most part). I am also a romantic when it comes to love. I believe in the great love story. I want the love story to have a happy ending. So, I will try and try (and sometimes, I'm the only one doing so) because I feel when you quit someone, you'd better be damned sure that's what you really want. When I leave, I'm not coming back. You get the idea.

It usually has to get pretty bad before I stop caring. 

I stayed because I cared. When I stopped caring, I ended it. Now to tie that up in a neat little package with a quote...

See you soon,

~Beth