15 Reasons To Never Give Up

Our amazing board has been taking a bit of a hiatus since Walk Your AS Off 2016. It takes an enormous amount of team effort to organize our walk each year and we do it with a very small team and virtually no budget. In an effort to get things rolling again, we are going to start delivering some fresh, new, INSPIRING content to you each Wednesday.
I’m kicking things off this week by offering this advice: Never Give Up.
So, I have a little story to share with you first. Less than 10 days ago, I came home to Taiwan after spending five weeks with family in the US and in Canada. It was a great vacation, and I was able to do it without flight assistance this time. (Woo hoo!)
The last two years, I’ve needed flight assistance, and it is always hard to resign myself to the fact at 41 years of age, there are times when I am not capable of getting myself home. Just thinking about it makes me feel sad and useless.
Anyways, the positive takeaway here is that I had the strength that I needed to enjoy my vacation and I believe a lot of it had to do with Walk Your AS Off and finding the time each day during April and May this year to walk and increase my daily step count.
In fact, I think I owe this recent vacation to Walk Your AS Off because I found the motivation I needed to walk from OUR COMMUNITY. What an incredible and amazing thing this is, don’t you think?
I have continued walking each day since our event ended on May 31st, and I’m proud to say that I’m now up to 6,000 steps per day. Unfortunately, I think this is too much; every step I take is agony and the pain is really starting to wear me down. Now that I’ve reached this goal, I realize that it is not sustainable for me right now, but it might be in the future, so I’m going to reduce my daily step count for the next month, but I’m going to keep walking.
My point is that we should never give up. So I’m paying my sincere gratitude back to you – our AS community – to say thanks for your encouragement and to offer some encouragement to those of you who are struggling.
We are all champions. We keep going, even when we don’t have anything left to give. I am shedding a few tears watching these videos and looking at some of these photos, but they all include an important message:

NEVER GIVE UP! In fact, let’s hashtag it. #nevergiveup

Leave us your own #NeverGiveUp quote in the comments section if you’d like to pay it forward. 

From our very own Gillian Eames of the Orange Apples: Jun 25, 2011 – “I hope watching this video inspire others to never give up in what you believe in. I know it can be hard when you have a difficult challenge ahead of you but with help and support from others you will get the strength to carry on.”

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow.‘ – Mary Anne Radmacher, American author and artist
“You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. – Confucius (551-479 BC), philosopher

Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles 1984 – Gabriela (“Gaby”) Andersen-Schiess participated in the first women’s Olympic marathon. She was suffering from severe heat exhaustion. She knew if she stopped or sat down, that would be the end of it. She was determined to make it to the finish line.

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. – Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26^th President of the United States
“Not to give up under any circumstances should be the motto of our life: we shall try again and again, and we are bound to succeed. There will be obstacles, but we have to defy them. So do not give up, do not give up! Continue, continue! The goal is ahead of you. If you do not give up, you are bound to reach your destined goal.” ― Sri Chinmoy, The Jewels of Happiness: Inspiration and Wisdom to Guide Your Life-Journey

“Let me tell you about something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows; it’s a very mean and nasty place. And I don’t care how tough you are; it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, not even nobody, is going to hit you harder than life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much can you take and keep moving forward.”

“Courage doesn’t always roar, sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering ‘I will try again tomorrow.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher
“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” — Helen Keller
“I may not be where I want to be, but if I stop now, I’ll NEVER get where I’m going!” – Laura Lynch (Mistakes Happen: An Historical Guide to Overcoming Adversity)