Anon Fell out of love with gymnastics

[Anonymous (caf3)]

A while back I started to not enjoy gymnastics as much. I kept saying “it’ll get better” because it always does, I just have to wait it out for a month or so. I just realized I’ve been waiting for seven months and trying to make it get better but it hasn’t. Quitting is not an option for me and I don’t know what to do.

 

[Dahlialover]

It sounds like you are ready to be done with gymnastics, but something is getting in the way of you making that decision. Can you tell us a bit more about why you think quitting is not an option?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Quitting should always be an option. If you're not enjoying it, it's the best option.

One of two things will happen:
1) Some time away will make you miss it and remember why you loved it, helping you return with renewed passion
2) You don't miss it, in which case quitting was the right option anyway

 

[Anonymous (caf3)]

It sounds like you are ready to be done with gymnastics, but something is getting in the way of you making that decision. Can you tell us a bit more about why you think quitting is not an option?

I did gymnastics pre covid and then I took a three year break following covid. I literally wanted to do everything I could to come back and “catch up” because I loved it so much. I competed two seasons but after last season is when all this started. I only have two seasons left now until I go to college so I just sort of feel like whats the point of quitting now? Especially because I’ve given a lot for gymnastics, it would feel like a waste

 

[Anonymous (caf3)]

Quitting should always be an option. If you're not enjoying it, it's the best option.

One of two things will happen:
1) Some time away will make you miss it and remember why you loved it, helping you return with renewed passion
2) You don't miss it, in which case quitting was the right option anyway

Yeah I’ve had this experience before when I quit for a while after covid and ended up missing it and loving it so much after. But missing it so much made me regret leaving because I felt really behind when I came back and I don’t want that to happen again

 

[Anonymous (caf3)]

I did gymnastics pre covid and then I took a three year break following covid. I literally wanted to do everything I could to come back and “catch up” because I loved it so much. I competed two seasons but after last season is when all this started. I only have two seasons left now until I go to college so I just sort of feel like whats the point of quitting now? Especially because I’ve given a lot for gymnastics, it would feel like a waste

*I don’t plan on doing gymnastics in college btw

 

[Dahlialover]

This happens a lot in life: you work really hard for something and when you get it, you discover that it’s not as cool as you thought it would be. This usually occurs, not because you made a mistake, but because you grow and change, so you are not the same person at the end of the journey that you were at the start.

This situation often triggers an error in thinking called the “sunk cost fallacy” where people continue doing something that is not good for them simply because they feel like they have invested too much into that plan to change course. This is a common cause of unhappiness. To get out of it, you have to realize that the time, effort, and money that you spent on gymnastics is gone. It is in the past. You’ve already had that experience and gotten everything out of it that you’ll ever get.

If you quit gymnastics, you won’t lose anything that you put into it. But if you continue doing gymnastics when you no longer enjoy it, you will be squandering the opportunity to do other things that you enjoy and that fit the person you are now.

The best way to honor everything you have put into gymnastics is to take the lessons you have learned from the sport and apply them to your future endeavors. You are not quitting, you are graduating. Congratulations! And good luck!