No nothing crazy has happened….its just fresh in my mind after talking with several friends this week, and when it hits me…I share! There is really nothing in life that is easy. I mean, yeah, ya really don’t have it bad when someone else is feeding and bathing you as a child….but in adulthood, its not easy! Work is hard, school is hard, marriage is hard, being a good friend is hard, caring for someone is hard, cancer is hard, grief is hard… you get the picture.
No matter how hard it is, you push through…… at least in most cases. Yes, there are high school and college drop outs, there are failed marriages and friendships, and as I have said, care taking, cancer and grief sure as hell isn’t easy. Things happen in life, and every person has their own view on how to handle it. Do you throw in the towel immediately? Or do you try to push through? “Things” doesn’t have to mean something life changing. It can be simple. I had to parallel park TWICE in the last 2 weeks…..but I did it. I’m a terrible driver….just ask Rob Oliver. And no my car can’t park itself. The point is… I could have parked elsewhere and walked in the cold, taking the path of least resistance….but I didn’t.
John could have went through his cancer journey asking for help at every opportunity, but he didn’t. He, well, WE, chose to handle things the best we knew how, and we did it together. Was it easy? Negative. Would it have been easier to ask for others to take care of things for us? Of course. We didn’t go through the journey alone, and for that I’m thankful, but we did things for ourselves as often as we were able. Was it hard at times? You betcha. Pushing through the hard times made us stronger and brought us closer together. It made us value our time together, even on the hardest days.
The point is, I’m the first person to not want to get out of my comfort zone. I would far rather take the path of least resistance, and avoid the “hard stuff”. Hell, if I hadn’t done something hard, and interviewed for a new job….I’d still be having the life sucked out of me at Menards. Well, I take that back. John’s cancer battle would have left me unemployed if I didn’t have the flexibility to go to appointments and work remotely when I needed to. As I have gotten older, and throughout this last year, I have learned to push myself more. Take the steps to move ahead through the hard times, and face situations that are less than pleasant, and certainly not easy.
No matter who you are, there is something in your life that is hard. Some situations are harder than others, but if you face that situation as best you are able, THAT is what counts. It might be making a hard decision, having a hard conversation, telling someone terrible news (I promise that is as hard as it gets), or something as simple as freaking parallel parking. In the grand scheme, if you don’t jump the hurdle, whatever it might be, you are doing yourself, and in some cases, someone else a dis-service. Only you can face the hard things head on….take the bull by the horns….and hope that your decision to do so works out for the best. In my experience, if it doesn’t work out exactly as you have planned…..the experience, the decisions you make, the words you choose, and the final outcome makes you stronger. How strong? Stronger than a Fifth of Whiskey, duh.
Stronger Than A Fifth Of Whiskey 