After careful consideration, a man decided to join a monastery.

One of the rules was that as a monk, he would only be allowed to speak two words every ten years. At the end of ten years he said, “Bad food!” Ten more years went by and he said, “Hard bed!”

Finally, on his 30th anniversary with the brothers, he thundered, “I quit!” The priest in charge responded, “You might as well. All you do is complain anyway.”

Many of us can relate to this experience. At one time we had great dreams and plans, but we focused more on the trivial things and used all of our energy complaining about things that had little to do with our dreams. Now, as a consequence, we’ve settled for monotony and boredom as if our dreams were not meant for us to enjoy. Like the monk, many of us have said, “I quit!” With a limited opportunity to speak he should have chosen to say encouraging, positive words.

If we continue to speak what we cannot achieve or what we cannot become, we will eventually convince ourselves that we can’t. What lies between us and our success are our tongues.

The tongue is a small group of muscles that weighs approximately 70 grams. Even though it is small, it is the most dangerous weapon that we possess. With it, we have the ability to fulfill our dreams or create nightmares within our lives.

Regardless of what has occurred in our lives, regardless of how young or old we are, the moment we begin speaking victory instead of defeat, we unlock our inner greatness.

Although the monk only literally quit once, he actually quit every time he spoke. When he complained about the bed, he quit. Later he complained about the food, he quit. He stayed there physically but his mind had left the monastery.

After faking it for ten more years, he finally decided to say that he quit. The first time that we complain or utter negative words about our dreams or destiny, we begin a downward spiral towards quitting.

We should never give up on our dreams. Enjoying our dreams should be an indispensable part of life.

There is no growth or inspiration to be gained by quitting when things aren’t going our way. We’ll never accomplish anything in life if we simply quit. We should never stop trying.

The old proverb tells us not to be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. If we never give up on our dreams we will eventually achieve them.

Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Instead, work harder and one day we’ll be glad that we did.