Choose Your Hard
We have so much access to information these days. We can go online and find out how to budget, cook a meal, fix things around the house—even find the perfect workout for our age, gender and lifestyle. Why then don’t we do the things we know we should do? Mostly because it’s hard. It’s hard to budget. It’s hard to find the time and energy to workout consistently. It’s hard to maintain healthy relationships.
However, what happens when we don’t do the hard things now? My grandmother would say we will have a ‘harder row to hoe’ later. It is hard to budget and save for the future, but the future will be here before you know it and the stress of not having enough money will be even harder. It may be easier now to avoid difficult conversations, but what is the impact it will have on the relationship later? What if you want to find love, but you say ‘it’s just too hard’ to put yourself out there and meet people? Well, as the years go by, it will just get harder—and if we don’t make things a priority now, they will often become a crisis later.
When I was in my early forties, I was in an unhealthy relationship. I knew he was not the one for me, but it seemed so hard to breakup. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want to start over with awkward first dates and vulnerable moments. I made all the excuses because it was hard. We ended up breaking up, but it was a very devastating and humiliating experience. Had I chosen to do the hard thing and have the hard conversation up front, I could have saved myself a lot of time and a lot of heartache. From that time on, I always choose my hard.
Presiding Action
What is something you consider to be hard in your life right now? Is it working out, finances, finding time to maintain relationships? Is it that difficult conversation you know you should have? Is it putting yourself back out there? I know that it’s hard, but I submit that choosing to do the hard thing today will save you from something even harder later. Take a moment to steward the hard things in your life. By doing the hard things now, you can create the life you want instead of responding to the crises caused by avoiding the hard.
