Quitters Sometimes Win

The real never ending story

We all know the tired convention of quitters never win, winners never quit.  If you haven't figured it out for yourself yet, this phrase isn't always true.  For example I spent years hacking it out in little league, not having fun and being an all around terrible baseball player.  Finally after enough arguing and rebelling, my parents let me quit a sport that I didn't like to play and had no nature talent for.  The end result 15 years later is that baseball is my favorite sport mainly due to the lack of resentment I have for it.  By quitting 15 years ago, I was able to win in the long run and enjoy a lifelong hobby.  I was never going to play in the pros, but I am now an armchair enthusiast.  Stay tuned for a blog about this year's offseason by the way.  

After my baseball career ended (Thank God), I continued my indentured servitude playing other sports that I didn't enjoy.  My lack of enjoyment for these activities stemmed from other factors besides a dislike of the sport.  In fact I will publicly announce that I liked the sports, but people older than me always found a way to suck the fun out of them.  Mainly it was overbearing parents channelling their broken dreams into the athletic endeavors of their children.  Going to a youth sporting event remains a bittersweet affair for me to this day, watching a handful of "baseball dads" pervert something that should be fun for their children into their own accomplishment.  I am glad I am not a father, its the toughest job out there, and the retirement package is certainly not guaranteed.  Usually every youth sports team has at least two overbearing parents ruining the fun for the kids and the other parents.       

I recently encountered another fine example of the quitters never win paradox in my personal life.  The novel Shogun followed me to China from my grandpa's bookshelf back in Indiana.  My old roommate and good friend here in Beijing had recommended Tai-Pan to me, another novel by James Cavell, and I thought Shogun would be a great chance to get aquatinted with the author and learn about Japan before my trip there in October.  The novel certainly comes with high acclaim.  It also came with over 1200 pages, but I had no fear about finishing the book.  I had read other massive novels before, and with such an interesting subject I didn't think anything of cracking open this tome about feudal Japan.

Three months and one trip to Japan later I formally take this opportunity to formally announce I am quitting my quest to finish the book.  I made it through 750 pages, and I simply cannot go any further.  My trip to Tokyo in early October did nothing to spur my interest in the book.  I stopped reading it after getting back from Tokyo.  During that month and a half intermission, I managed to read four books, very good books at that.  Yesterday I picked Shogun up again, but I knew I couldn't go any further.  And why should I?  Why should I waste hours reading a huge book I don't really like or find interesting?  Why should I keep reading this when I could read other books that I actually find engaging?  So in the end, I had to quit in order to win.

The Shogun miniseries 

Oh well,  I can always watch the miniseries.