I KNOW, FRIENDS. I know. Sometimes—some days—it’s just too much. To see so much being destroyed. To see the Justice Department being destroyed. The FBI being destroyed. Health and Human Services being destroyed. Virtually every federal agency that does anybody any good being corrupted, hollowed out, and destroyed. Wild and natural areas being destroyed. International alliances destroyed. Communities and their sense of safety being destroyed. Families destroyed. 250 year old ideals and traditions and foundations being destroyed. Did I leave anything out? You bet I did. But I don’t need to type the whole, interminable list. You know it.

You also know what I know—how it feels to be a thinking, caring, decent person and witness it all happening. And to know that some days, for whatever particular reason, it’s just too much. And then what do you do? Well, it varies. You can do push-ups. Go to the gym. Go for a walk. Read a good book. Listen to good music. Ski. Swim. Crochet. Paint. Write. Cook. Hug a loved one. Try and regain your balance. And whenever you do regain it, whatever it takes, then… well, then it’s probably still too much.

And at that point, we are confronted with a choice, you and I. It’s a real simple choice. Give up. Or don’t give up.

That’s it. It doesn’t get any more basic or any more simple.

I get notes, messages, comments all the time, after a post perhaps. ‘Yes, Doug, but don’t you know… Of course, Doug, but it’s too late…. Doug, the battle is already lost… Doug, you don’t realize… Doug, you don’t understand… Doug, just look at history, don’t you see…” Etc. Etc. Well, just to set the record straight, yes, I do know. Yes, I do realize. Yes, I do understand. Yes, I do see. And yes, maybe it is too late.

But I know something else, too. I know that all these messages are really just one message.

Time to give up.

Because out of the whole long, sad, complex laundry list of injuries and problems recited, it doesn’t really matter. None of it really matters. It’s just—what do you choose? Give up, or don’t give up. It’s that simple. It helps to know that there are a whole lot of people who haven’t given up. People in Minneapolis. People in Minnesota. People all over the country. People of every shape and size and faith and color. And it’s more people all the time. People who are just waking up to whatever outrage. People who have been wide awake all the time. People who wanted to ignore it all and hope for the best. People who wanted ‘somebody else’ to fix it. People who have been too scared to say anything. People who are now organizing. Helping their neighbors. Creating food drives. Delivering food. Doing carpools. Honking horns, blowing whistles, recording and witnessing and standing up and speaking out. And not giving up.

So on the days when it’s all too much, too scary and too exhausting, it can help to let go of the long, depressing list and know that it all just comes down to that one, simple choice. Give up, or don’t give up.

The clarity helps.

Of course, there is one more thing, one more ‘complexity’ that is in the minds of those who counsel giving up and giving in. It is this. We might lose. After all our trying and helping and organizing and struggling and speaking and battling, we might still lose. Yup. Battles are like that. You never know, no guarantees. And, hey, if you don’t battle, if you stay out of the struggle, then you save yourself all that trouble. If you’re not in the fight, you can’t lose.

Or can you?

Well, of course you can. Because everybody knows in the silence of their own heart—whether they will admit it or not—that the greatest possible loss is your own self-esteem, your own conscience. Your own soul. And that is a loss you never get over, never get back.

So yes, maybe sometimes it’s too much. And maybe it is too late. And maybe it’s not worth the trouble. But none of that matters. It’s just one extraordinarily simple question. One choice. Give up, or don’t give up.

(This is my latest Substack post You can follow/support/ subscribe to me there at Notes From The Campfire@douglaswoodauthor. substack.com/@douglaswoodauthor