When I was at a newspaper slated for neutering and layoffs hung over us all, I told my colleagues, “Do the best you can for as long as you can until you’re told you can’t do it anymore.” Five years after the hangman came for me, I would add, “and after they tell you, keep on doing your best.”

If you still have the knack and the passion, being told you can’t is not an edict; it’s a challenge.

When I was laid off from my dream job reporting and editing, I took a little time to reassess, and I found myself reporting and editing again, this time because I wanted to and the community needed someone to. I continued for another four years, and I did the best I could until I couldn’t, and this time it was my decision. And there’s the point: It’s not someone else’s right to tell you to stop giving when you have more to give.

Create value. Everything you create has value, and the better your creation, the greater the value.