I attended a workshop last fall and spotted a young woman wearing the most beautiful shawl. I asked her where she got it and she said, “I made it myself.” When I asked her if I could pay her to make me one, she replied, “It took me about 250 hours. It would be very expensive plus the materials.” She inspired me to take a lesson at a local craft store. After attending an initial 90-minute lesson, the instructor sent the class on our way to finish our scarves.
Since I knew I was making mistakes, I returned to the store twice to have them set me straight and get me on the right track. But I didn’t want to make a scarf. I wanted to make sweaters and shawls! A few weeks later I was having coffee with a friend in her 60s who showed me a photo of the sweater she made for her granddaughter. It was lovely. She told me she has been knitting since she learned — at 8 year old.
I told her my knitting story and realized, “I don’t have time to learn how to knit.”
Knowing When To Walk Away
It gave me peace to realize I don’t have time to learn how to knit sweaters. I was reminded of the book “Quit: The Power of Knowing When To Walk Away,” by Annie Duke, a former professional poker player. She talks at length about how society rewards being persistent and staying with something rather than quitting. Quitters are considered losers. Duke explains that we can reframe quitting as an opportunity to better use our time, energy, and focus. When we do so, we have the permission to move onto something else. Duke said she wrote “Quit” because “I think that the stopping things part of the equation is very neglected.”