Winners Never Win and Quitters Never Quit

Inspiration.

In spite of my recent inactivity and dedication to posting memes on Facebook, The Hen is still a writer at heart. All writers, from prize winning to volunteer, need inspiration. Even the funniest birds sometimes don't feel inspired or funny. Aside from that fun little hurricane, this has been The Hen life lately.

But don't despair! It's going to take more than a full-time job and mild depression to clip my wings! As each day got harder to get out of bed and face the world, I started to think of how I could return to my mild success on the Internet. Each day as I sat caged at my desk, I mentally plotted how I could peck through the chicken wire back to my cackling self. Finally, I plotted a simple but brilliant plan: I quit.

My New Job, My Old Job

To-do list.

As I wrote in the two-part series, "I Quit," I'm not good at quitting. Maybe it's a fear of change or maybe I actually like ice skating, but I'm just not good at quitting unless I'm physically forced out of it. School makes you "graduate" and jobs "fire" you, but otherwise, I stick it out. Even if some friendships turn henemy, I can't let go until they block my number and social media accounts.

This past week was one of new beginnings and wonderful new endings. I accomplished a life-long goal: I quit!

I Quit. Part II

Did you read "I Quit?" That's part 1 and you'll be confused and left out if you don't read it first.

...Continued from "I Quit."

23 years old. After beating my sunburnt competitors for a silver medal in Hawaii, I found the fresh training environment I needed to reach my competitive potential to regularly finish "middle of the pack." I got so good, I could beat my toughest rivals when they made at least 3 mistakes! The 2009 Eastern Sectional Championships was my shining moment as a competitor. I skated my best performance, ending with tears of joy to a standing, slightly drunk ovation. I never knew I could be so proud of a 7th-place finish! I couldn't quit in my prime, so I continued to train for the next year.

I Quit.

"I quit."

I QUIT!

Don't fear - I'm not quitting the volunteer blogging business. But these are words I'm not good at saying, along with "no" and "Britney's past her prime." I'm good at leaving things unfinished like cleaning and writing books, but once I'm committed, I'm not a quitter. I don't even quit jobs; I just move or I'm asked to stop showing up because I "graduated." And technically, I'm still working on my book and my room, even if my work's been on hiatus since 2012.

I have quit ice skating: many times. But in quitting skating, I've been an utter failure. I'm the hen who cried wolf of ending my skating career. After my tearful, dramatic farewell to Hens on Ice lasted a mere 6 weeks, no one believes me when I cry again at the next show and say, "This is it!" You'll all be sorry one day when you don't take my sobbing farewell to the ice seriously, whether that day comes this year or before my 2048 presidential run. Until then, let's reflect on my history of quitting.