Comments on: Hard Things

By: LAGirrrl

LAGirrrl — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:36:51 +0000

Just to shake things up, literally, I once picked up the college catalog and picked the one thing I couldn’t imagine myself doing and enrolled….I SO enjoyed bellydancing, found my inner harem girl!

By: brooke

brooke — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:59:11 +0000

I see this in my own daughter. While I watch her attempts at [very beginner] tumbling, I sometimes giggle out loud as the other moms stare at me. It’s not that her failed tries are funny– it’s that I’m excited by her gumption. To try the handstand, to try the cartwheel, and to try it with such ebullience is inspiring to me. So often I have to remind myself to be brave, to put on the brave face when things seem to be caving in around me, to smile when I don’t want to. I think we’ve just traded the falling on the bum to the falling flat out on our faces emotionally. Or at least I have.

By: Justine

Justine — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:52:27 +0000

Kristin, I want to just be able to run another 10K! You’re awesome!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:34:47 +0000

I feel like I have no problem with the desire to do hard things…I want to become a court interpreter, I want to get a second degree in nursing on the side. And most of all, I WANT TO RUN ANOTHER MARATHON!!

As crazy as it sounds, I love the pain and discomfort of the training just as much as I do the race itself. Joy in the journey, baby.

However, my problem is that sometimes I want to do these hard things for the wrong reason. Sometimes I say, “I want to be more intellectually, or physically, or whatever..challenged.” But the real reason, that is oh so hard to admit, is, “It’s so hard being a mom sometimes that I’d love to do something easier, and mask it as something “hard,” because then everyone will understand me better.”

Justine, I don’t blame you for not wanting to somersault off the balance beam. I used to want to do that…but not anymore. I think we are all taking risks, and doing hard things, all the time. YOU, for example, recently scaled a 90 degree mountain cliff with Isaac strapped to your front. I would NEVER attempt that, unless heavily drugged.

You also climbed Y mount with all five kids in tow, and took pictures of you all smiling at the end. And now, you are taking care of everything for THREE WHOLE WEEKS while Don is out doing the island dances in Fiji, and, we hope, getting a tan.

By: Dalene

Dalene — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:07:32 +0000

Not to say in this possible spotter stage of my life I won’t try hard things. I’m just more selective. (Tumbling out of a plane is not on my current to-do list.)

I agree with Emily M. about writing. Submitting your writing–even to the nicest people–is a huge risk. Because your writing is part of your soul. Like all hard things, however, it’s a learning experience.

By: Kylie

Kylie — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:23:37 +0000

I am finding that getting older is freeing me. I don’t really care much about what other people think of me–at least not nearly to the extent that I did when I was a teenager. I’m not all the way there yet, but I’m feeling it coming on; it’s that feeling that says: maybe I’ll just try snowskiing. Or the violin (which I quit at age 10). Or community drama. Or editing a magazine. When people see me, an obviously pathetically incompetent beginner on the ski slopes, I think they’ll say, “Look at that cool old lady trying to learn how to snowski” or “I heard she’s only taken violin lessons for one month. She so brave to volunteer to play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ for the ward talent show!” No one cares when someone who is old tries new stuff. They think it’s kind of neat that you are putting yourself out there on the line. I’ve got friends back in college, taking English 110 with 18-year-olds, and I’ve got friends training for their first marathons. I love it! I know this is my midlife crisis creeping up on me. I can’t wait. Who knows what wild things I just might try?

By: Jennifer B.

Jennifer B. — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:46:14 +0000

These comments are wonderful. Justine, I love this! I have been thinking about this very idea so much lately (although it wasn’t phrased half so well and sounded more like, “What is my problem?”). My hard things right now are embarrassingly basic. I am struggling to get myself to bed at a decent hour (I looooove quiet), eat well, and get some exercise so that I can deal with other hard things. Sometimes I try to break my challenges into baby steps and then plan rewards–incentive is big for me. Also, fasting and attending the temple give me added courage and strength.

By: Angie

Angie — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:05:27 +0000

Heck, I feel like I need a spotter in this season! Becoming a mom (let alone a Mormon homeschool mom of five closely spaced children) was soooo far out of my comfort zone. Several years into it I finally would say that I can hold my own, but it still pushes me to the limit, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I don’t have as much left to give to other hard things as I once did. And maybe the biggest challenge for me is ackowledging that, because I tend to push myself too far, and then those five children are left with the overextended mess on the floor.

By: Amber

Amber — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:56:55 +0000

I just found your blog and can SOOO relate to this post! I recently had a friend perform in a MAJOR competition and she spoke about how nervous and what a stretch it was for her to do it. But in the end, she grew so much. It made me start looking for ways to extend beyond my comfort zone and try, even if it is just a bit, on a daily basis. In the end, I’ll either learn a ton…or have an ulcer.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:00:50 +0000

Oh I am so much in agreement with that statement Justine.