When Giving Up is Good for You

clipped from lifehacker.com Quitting may very well be good for your health, according to a study reported on by the Association for Psychological Science. ...the psychologists followed teenagers for a full year. Over that time, individuals who did not persist obtaining hard- to-reach goals had much lower levels of a protein called CRP, an indicator of bodily inflammation. Inflammation has recently been linked to several serious diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, suggesting that healthy but overly tenacious teens may already be on the road toward chronic illness later in life. The lesson isn't necessarily a new one: know when to cut your losses. The upside to the study for those less willing to give up on goals easily is that of the participants who did quit, those who were more willing to set and re-engage in new goals had more sense of purpose. So just because it can be good for you to give up on a goal, that doesn't mean it's time to give up on tough goals altogether.