I don't know where my penchant for putting up with stuff and just enduring, got started. What I do know is that right here and now, I can ignore clothes that need ironing (over a year piled in a paper bag); I can allow the very expensive water filtering system not to function (nine years); I can store and never learn to use my small sewing machine (bought eight years ago); I can let the dried laundry sit on my bed till it wrinkles (all day); and I can use the mismatching tray tables with guests (seven years). Oh yes, and I can let someone keep me on the phone beyond my interest or concern.

I have rationalizations for all of the above. I obviously don't need those clothes in the ironing bag. My water is town water and is perfectly fine. I hate sewing; it's not my creative outlet. People come to be with me and not my matching tray tables. I don't want to upset myself by cutting this person off.

I would LOVE to have all aspects of my life aligned and serving my dreams. I recently enrolled a bachelor buddy who irons his own clothes to come and iron my wrinkled clothes while I made us dinner and he watched a funny show on my laptop. Two days later he said, "Do you have more ironing?" That was way too easy.

With what have you burdened yourself? Tasks? Relationships? Jobs? Without stressing yourself too much, could you just list them? Could you take a peak at what you're enduring day after day and week after week? Quit putting your precious time and energy into projects and people that do not matter to you. They may be fine projects and fine people, but they aren't fine if they are not your projects or your people.

I have a friend who is volunteering in so many directions he cannot keep his appointments straight. He is considering pulling out of one of his many noble projects and struggling. What will they think of him? Will they still let him play with them sometimes? His choices are worthy but they are just not working for him and he doesn't do anything 100%.

Working hard at something that matters to you is a joy. Even the occasional frustration, boredom or lack of sleep when you are engaged in what you love is not a trial. There is no "putting up with" when you are on track.

If you are ready to quit and you want to take this on, don't start with your career. Start with something small that you can drop from your life. Look at your check book. Are you supporting a charity you don't really love? Giving gifts you don't really want to give?

Here's the $64K question: are you following someone else's dream? Is it time to be "spiritually defiant"? Are there any signs that you are not being true to your own dream? Fatigue, annoyance, persistent loneliness and chronic ill health are some of the signs that you are not paying attention to your inner GPS, which Cash Peters stresses is never off. We can trust our inclinations, the gentle pulls and the little discomforts that show up in our body sensations.

I have to quote the end of Peters' article here:

Quit any situation where you're not valued or respected. Quit fighting. Quit struggling. Quit doing things simply to please others. Quit hoarding belongings that no longer serve you. Quit habits that poison your body. Quit anything you do to please others but that drains the very core of your being.

If it's not practical to quit right away..., make a plan to quit. Set a date. Take steps. Prepare the way, making eventual freedom your aim. Above all, let quitting be your passport to personal freedom and to living with integrity.

AGAIN: If you would like to have some fun naming what you would like to quit, join me for a FREE 30-minute conversation by conference call on Sunday, July 7, from 10:30-11 a.m. Open to anyone and everyone. You need to email me to get the conference call number: eppervesce@aol.com