How To Quit Like a Winner

Field Note: Onoda, Ford, and the courage to know when to walk away.

This September marks 80 years since Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri, bringing World War II to a close. The world exhaled, the papers declared peace, and a new chapter began.

But not for everyone.

Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer stationed in the Philippines, didn't believe the war was over. For nearly three decades after 1945, he hid in the jungles, convinced surrender notices were enemy trickery. He lived in caves, rationed food, and fought battles long finished in the rest of the world. His war ended only in 1974, when his former commanding officer was flown in to order him home.

Onoda's story raises a haunting question:

When is perseverance noble, and when does it become misplaced?

Of course, there's a time for fighting the good fight. We celebrate the rallying cries of leaders like Churchill, whose famous call to “Never give in, never, never, never” still echoes like a trumpet.

Yet, we often treat quitting as the cardinal sin. "Winners never quit!" "No pain, no gain!" Such phrases make us feel like we have to keep going no matter what, as if we're on a little train with tracks that only go forward.

But train rides can get bumpy. And maybe, just maybe, it's not the right train anymore. It's okay to wonder if there's another track worth taking. Sometimes staying locked on the same path makes us tired, sad, and small. Fixating on a pebble while a whole garden lies in view.

Changing trains is scary. We worry about what others will think or whether we'll regret the move. But it takes courage to say, "This isn't right for me anymore." Like a plant that needs replanting in sunnier soil, sometimes the bravest thing we can do is move.

Ecclesiastes reminds us that, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… a time to keep and a time to throw away." Faithfulness is not about clinging to the wrong thing forever, but about discerning our current season.

Sometimes not giving up means letting go. Mark Twain once quipped, "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times." He was poking fun, but it names the futility of false quitting. Letting go in words while never really moving on in deeds.

Think of Henry Ford. While we celebrate his genius, we often forget his stubbornness. He insisted the Model T was the pinnacle of car design. If he’d had his way, we’d still be clattering down the road in his one-size-fits-all car: progress blocked by clinging to the past.

So if we've been pressing hard at something and our heart whispers that it's time for a change, listen. Walking away isn't a failure. Sometimes it's pruning. Sometimes it's planting. And almost always, it's the doorway to something new.

Because in the end, faithfulness isn't about never quitting. It's about knowing when to stay, when to shift, and when to trust that God's garden is bigger than the stubborn pebble in front of us.