The old man and the sea

"The Old Man and the Sea," a novella by Ernest Hemingway, tells the story of Santiago, an old fisherman who continuously struggles to catch a fish but fails each time. He is considered cursed, which is why the parents of a boy who cares for him forbid their son from fishing with Santiago. Despite facing ridicule from his community, Santiago remains steadfast.

One day, he decides to catch a big, meaty fish and ventures far out into the ocean. After days of struggle, restlessness, pain, and loneliness, he finally catches an exquisitely beautiful and large fish. However, his joy is short-lived as his skiff, loaded with the dead fish, is constantly attacked by sharks on the way back home. By the end of the journey, he returns home with just a broken skiff and the fish's skeleton. Exhausted and wounded, he goes to his shack, lies down, and sleeps. The next morning, the boy who adores him wakes him up and tells him that everyone had been searching for him, but there were no signs of him. Despite being wounded by the sharks, Santiago always maintained that a man can be destroyed but not defeated.

This novella is about staying focused and persistent to achieve our goals. However, imagining every bit of Santiago's journey is heart-shattering and painstaking. While there is immense happiness in achieving something significant, sometimes giving up is necessary. We often get trapped in the sunk cost fallacy, continuing pursuits that no longer make sense.

Do we know when to give up and when to persist? There's plenty of advice on not giving up, but little on the importance of letting go. Goals are often achieved by perseverance, but sometimes they need to be abandoned to avoid wasting time and resources.