Hard Is Not the Same as Bad

              We use the words difficult and hard with bad like they’re interchangeable parts We take triple-knotted complex shoelace relationships and simplify them to synonyms, doing a disservice to ourselves, because if the business isn’t profitable within a year like that one friend from college, maybe it wasn’t meant to be. If the tests are negative every month when it seems like everyone else is getting positive, maybe it’s not in the cards. If the rejection letters keep coming, but the job offer doesn’t, maybe it’s not the right path after all. How often do we listen to those thoughts and let them win? How many dreams do we give up on, because they seem too hard? We believe the lies because it’s easier than fighting through the hard.

              Everyone goes through bad times, it’s an unfortunate side effect of life, and they are difficult, sometimes they feel like carrying the weight of the world until you’re not sure how much longer you can continue. Bad times challenge people, pull them into the ring and see how many hits a person can take, knock them down to see if they’ll keep getting back up. We make it through with hands that reach out at the right times and tears and grit, and hopefully you don’t have to go through many bad times.

              But difficult things, we’re faced with those all the time, and we accomplish far more than we think we do. Training for the race, carrying a child, getting out of bed on a dark day, moving to a brand new city to follow a dream, starting a journey in therapy, making it through college when you didn’t think you could. If you choose to go the difficult way and not give up, you usually come out the other side of it with a better life and a better version of yourself than you could have imagined when you started. You grow through the difficulty. You find your strength. You find your people that will wrap an arm around you and help you keep going when you don’t think you can do it yourself, and those same people will be there cheering you on when you cross your finish line.

              Choosing to do the difficult thing is hard, but it can lead to some of the most rewarding moments, or they might be exactly what you need to get you where you want to be. Think about all the difficult things you’ve already done in your life and all the ways who you are now is better for them. Then face forward and go into the difficult knowing you can do it, because you’ve already done so much more than you thought you ever could.

Cheering you on from the sidelines,

SB