UNTIL: Or why spend 10,000 hours with a comatose man

by John Gratton

An Unexpected Twist in a New Chapter Doesn’t Mean Your Story is Finished

There is so much pressure to get rid of anything that isn’t easy, to let go of anything that hurts, to throw away what doesn’t meet our needs right now, to give up, to quit, to just walk away when things don’t work out how—and when—we want.

And that’s the problem. Getting rid and letting go and throwing away and giving up and quitting and walking away are almost always a tragic mistake. Better is to keep, to hang on, to stick with it, to endure, to stay. Figure out what is wrong and what can be done, what must be done, to fix it, then do what it takes. Do it until. That’s almost always the right thing to do.

Examples in this short book include a bicycle, a vein of gold, world-class knitters, and, much to my surprise, my mother, who spent more than 10,000 hours taking care of my dad following his strokes.

There are too many broken hearts, broken homes, broken lives, simply because too often we aren’t willing to persevere. We aren’t willing to keep our commitments. Whether it’s pride or ignorance or laziness or arrogance, we so often are not willing to overcome difficulties that are common to us all.

Sometimes you may have to step away, to let go, but be slow to do so. Chances are your fairy tale isn’t irreparably broken. An unexpected twist in a new chapter doesn’t mean your story is finished.

This is a short book, as all Cent Deux Books are, barely 7,000 words. But read it a few times, consider it, divine what those words are telling you, in your situation, right now, and then decide what they are worth and what you can do. Then do it. Do it until.

59 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2018

About the author

I was born in a cold, gray mining town smack in the middle of Minnesota, and a lot has happened since then.

I wrote a book or two and sold lots of articles, but most of my career was spent as a technical writer, cranking out proprietary manuals and white papers that even my dad could understand. Not that my dad wasn't intelligent, but technology baffled him, which explains why his VCR clock flashed little blue numbers for many years.

At some point, I grew weary of 50-hour weeks sitting in front of a computer screen, and started selling cookware door-to-door. It was the most fun I ever had at work. Eventually, I returned to school for a Master's to pursue my life-long passion, teaching public speaking to college freshmen.

Like you, I read constantly, and am always on the hunt for a great read. My system is to read a novel (Lonesome Dove is my favorite), followed by something educational, then something motivational, then something biographical.