Know When To Walk Away

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To know when to walk away, is Wisdom. Being able to, is Courage. Walking away with Grace, and your head held high, is Dignity.” –
Unknown

One day a swordsmith worked hard in his workshop. The man was hard at work forging a very special sword for his king. He formed the blade with steel, and then he carefully and evenly heated it to harden it more. He left the blade on his bench, closed his workshop and walked away home. The blade needed to cool slowly, in its own time. The swordsmith would finish his masterpiece the next day.

While the man worked, a Snake hid in a crevice on the ceiling of his workshop, bidding its time, waiting for the Man to decide to close shop and walk away. The workshop was Snake’s favorite hangout at nightfall. When the doors of the workshop closed, darkness engulfed the tiny workspace, the only light left was usually those cast by the moon through the door hinges. On nights when the moon remained behind the clouds, the workshop was pitch dark.

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The darkness is not the reason Snake loved to spend most evenings at the workshop. Big, juicy rats scurried to and fro at night, totally taking over the shop with their nocturnal activity. They were the reason Snake loved to spend its nights there.

For months Snake had been king at the workshop at night. Intimidating the rats. Poisoning as many as he pleased and swallowing them whole. He had no competition and didn’t expect any. At night Snake ruled, but by morning, rats and snake were wise enough to know when to walk away, before the swordsmith opened his doors, leaving the shop quiet and peaceful, as if nothing ever happened.

let go. walk away. and let God — Choose you sometimes. Photo by Canva

This particular night however, it appeared to Snake as if it had competition. Laying on the work bench, glistening in the tiny light cast by the moon was the thing the Man had spent so much time lovingly carving. Snake had watched the man work on many, many days but never had it seen him spend so much time on anything. Whatever it was that lay on the work bench, Snake didn’t like it.

“Who do you think your are? To come here, to my kingdom and command such attention, and dare to glisten. The only thing that shines here at night are my eyes,” Snake said, as it slowly but carefully and menacingly slithered towards the shiny thing.

It slithered around the blade, careful to leave enough space between itself and its newfound nemesis. “Who are you? Speak up coward. What are you doing here? This is my time. I am king here at this time. I could just sink my fangs into you and finish you right now,” Snake angrily said as it continued to slither around the blade.

In response, the Blade said nothing. The Blade appeared in no mood to argue with a fool. This infuriated Snake even more.

“How dare you ignore me when I’m talking to you. I hope you know when to walk away from this place because I have no patience for idiots like you.” Snake continued.

And still the only response it got was the pitter-patter of rats’ feet. And so Snake inched a little closer, hoping to get a better look at its silent enemy, and as it did, its tail touched the still hot Blade. Searing heat travelled through the snake’s body, and it let out a loud, painful, hiss. The fracas caught the attention of the rats, who gathered to watch enfolding spectacle.

Snake was not one to be outdone and humiliated by non-speaking, glistening dummy, so it lashed out, fangs ready, and tried to bite. The Blade hurt its fangs, the heat burned its tongue. And yet not willing to accept defeat in the presence of scurry little rats, the Snake persisted. It immediately wrapped its body around the hot blade, and willing itself to ignore the heat, it squeezed, intent on strangling the Blade to death.

when to walk away quotes — Walk away. Photo by Canva

The blade burned and then cut. But the more injury Blade inflicted, the more strongly Snake constricted.

“Give up you fool. I will kill you. Walk away,” Snake said as it squeezed and bit.

The Snake began to bleed. And yet the more it bled, the more it constricted. And the more it constricted, the more Blade cut. This went on long enough that by the time Snake realized it might be time to walk away, it was too late. Snake had lost so much blood that it didn’t have any strength left to even uncoil from the Blade. And that is how the fearsome Snake that reigned and terrorized rats in the swordsmith’s workshop, died a humiliating, painful, death, wrapped around a sword.

The next morning, the man entered his shop and was greeted by the strange spectacle of a dead snake wrapped around the king’s sword. No theory and speculation could sensibly explain what a snake was doing wrapped around a sword. Nothing about the scene made sense to the man. Was the snake trying to swallow the sword? Did it think the sword was food? Did the sword smell like food? There was no explaining why. So the man uncoiled and buried the snake, then he cleaned the sword and went about his business of finishing the king’s sword.

I love country music, and one of my favorites is The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. In it he sings:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done.

Oftentimes we stay too long; in relationships, be they romantic, professional, or platonic. We hang on to things and to people long after the best before date. We do that in hopes things are going to change. So like the snake in our little tale, we squeeze harder, in hopes of bringing out the love, affection, appreciation and connection we’re hoping for. We give our all, until we realize, sometimes too late that if you set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm, you may succeed in keeping them warm, but you will burn to death.

A healthy relationship or situation does not require you to bend over backwards to satisfy partners. It nourishes, sustains and reciprocates.

So how to know when to walk away? I say if it costs you your peace of mind, it is too expensive and not worth the investment. Know when to walk away.

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