This was the story of my life for eleven months. Until one morning I woke up and that natural passion I had for writing didn’t come as exciting and natural as it did before. Slowly but surely, for some weird reason, I somehow fell out of love with writing... and the end result was inevitable. 

I stopped writing. 

This is my first article for 2018; my first article in about six months.

The above experience made me realise how easily natural it is for us at times to fall out of love, to run out of passion and to just give in to the thought of not wanting to continue doing something. 

As you're reading this piece right now, there are millions of people across the world who woke up this morning and didn’t feel like still being with their partner; who didn’t feel like going to work anymore, thus they resigned; someone out there decided that they have had enough, they have suffered enough... and have no strength to carry on and sadly committed suicide; someone out there woke up this morning and decided to give up on chasing their dreams as they felt weary, helpless and hopeless to find something worthy holding on to after so many years of pursuing and chasing; someone out there gave up on the quest of finding solutions to their problems and living a happily-ever-after life for they have been trying for so long and so hard to find a way to the land of peace, love, joy, laughter and happiness... without any success.

There are certain things in life which are beyond our control. One day you too will wake up (assuming that you haven’t) and not feel like waking up in the morning and face the day. You will wake up one morning and feel like the earth can just open up and swallow you. You will wake up and feel like your life is slipping through your fingers. You will wake up without that zeal you had for life and the things you were passionate about. You will wonder what went wrong. You will wish so bad to grab hold the root cause of that feeling and just uproot it and throw it away... but at that moment that won't be possible as the only overwhelming feeling you will be experiencing is that one of just wanting not to do anything.  

Now allow me to say this to you: IT'S NATURAL!

It's natural to feel that way. It's natural not to want anything to do with life. After all, you're only human. As the wise man rightfully put it: “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what matters is you getting back up every time you fall”. So feel that way for it's natural to; however, don’t you - listen - don’t you dare give in to that feeling. 

Get back up and find that passion and zeal for life and the things you used to enjoy doing. Don’t allow yourself to live the rest of your life feeling like you're carrying the world on your shoulders. I am not in anyway implying that it's wrong to let go of certain people and the things that don’t serve you right or benefit you in any way. What I am saying is simple; the mere fact that you don’t feel like doing something, does not mean you shouldn’t do it.  Most of the time in life, that’s exactly how our character gets tested and strengthened. If you have to take a break in order to revive the desire in your heart  to face the next day much more inspired, purposefully and passionately, do that but don’t ever give up on the one you love; don’t ever give up on your dreams and the things you're passionate about!! Every time you feel like giving up, always remember what has kept you going for so long; remember that exciting thought of glory that awaits you on the other side of that feeling of not wanting to carry on.  Go back to the drawing board if you have to, but don’t let the hard work, your tears and the sweat you have put into building something go down the drain without something to show for it.

Don’t quit on life until you achieve your purpose! Don’t quit on your dreams until you make them a reality! Don’t quit on the one you love, until you find your happy ending!  

Fannie Zim is an admitted and practising Attorney of the High Court of South Africa working as a Director at Zim Attorneys Incorporated.