Struggle doesn’t equate to misery. A hard thing can be euphoric and enlivening, even if arduous and painful—which is why we undertake daunting pursuits by choice as well as necessity. We strain and risk and suffer. Ascend what is avoidable and attempt what is unreasonable. The mountain need not be climbed. The moonshot need not be made. Yet, there we go, straight into the headwinds and narrows, reaching for what is barely possible.
Not all difficult courses begin by choice. Some arrive by fate or forces beyond our control. But why a hard thing arises has little to do with what we make of it. As much possibility exists in the things we don’t prefer as those we do.
Hard can be tiny or monumental, ordinary or unusual. Putting together a puzzle is hard. Capturing the most dangerous snake on a continent to develop anti-venom is a different kind of hard. Adopting a child with special needs might be as unimaginable as climbing 14 of the world’s highest peaks in 92 days. All raise the question of why. Is it for the accolades? Often not. Is it to benefit humanity? Sometimes, but not always. Might it be about what happens in us when pushed beyond normal bounds? Perhaps. If we probe why we do hard things willingly, even enthusiastically, we understand more about what can happen in all endeavors.
What hard things do you undertake—and why?
(Part one of an eleven-part series)