What would be the hardest thing for you to give up on? For me it would be my family. I do not think that I will ever be in this predicament but that would kill me to have to give up on them.
I have been forced to give up on many things. All are difficult, and picking one would be impossible for me to do ...so I give up... ok, THAT one was easy! (laughs)
ok, I'll try another shot at this, but I wouldn't say it was hard to give it up, it was necessary. When I was growing up there was a friend of the family who became what most would consider as a friend, but really it was more of a companionship. I'll explain. He was less than a year younger than me, lived next door, and had no brothers, but lots of sisters. My instinct told me to avoid him, but my sisters felt sorry for him and pressured me into being his friend. (we were about 2-1/2 to 3/1/2 at the time) So, to please my sisters I went against my better judgement and decided to hang out with him, pickings for friends were slim, but I was fine exploring on my own. Over time I noticed he had too many leanings toward being a bad person, minor things mostly, but they annoyed me. He is, from my perspective, a selfish individual and an opportunist. Flashing forward 20 years, the relevance to this thread becomes somewhat clearer. We had both had sons born to us, but by that point our friendship had become little more than a thread itself. I came to a decision one day, I grabbed a guitar I had bought from a guitar player in a local band for $100 and drove up to see this friend, with the intention of severing that thread for good. When I got there, we bs'd a bit and I eventually handed the guitar to him and said "Keep it", and left shortly after. Why would I do this? I wanted to give him one last thing, in order to remind myself that he wasn't worth having as a friend (in case I ever got it into my head to try again). You see, that guitar was semi-precious to me, and he had only become a more selfish and opportunistic person. As an example: He never said "Thanks" he just smiled at his good fortune. So, I gave up on that friendship, and the guitar! (laughs) ....No, the guitar is still cool...
Also, I thought I'd explain his selfishness and opportunistic ways better. Say him and I became stranded in a desert. He had a gallon of water with him, but I had none. He might give me a cap-full once or twice a day, but that jug would have been emptied by the next morning, he would have drank most of it himself. If a vehicle came by, but the driver would only allow one of us on board, he would take that spot immediately and without any thought to my well-being, and then smile at his good fortune. Yes, this isn't a very good example, but it's an example nonetheless.
Kinda like if you'd want that person in a foxhole with you or not? I work with a guy like you describe....we call him a "nickel & dimer". Always mooching, always taking but never giving back.
The hardest thing for me is tea. I cant live without having it. I drink around 6 to 8 cups daily while working. It is very difficult for me to give up it.
