Do Hard Things. Period.

Just reading the phrase would have made me cringe back then as I entered the second decade of my life. Hard things for me equates to working double-time for double pay and double the stress. Those words translate to me that I have to do twice the effort of my time, energy and ability to receive just what I had worked on, more or less. Negative as it seems, that is what I had in mind growing up, not that I was born with a silver spoon on my mouth but rather just ‘get by’ the life I have and not live up from low expectations. I thought of myself not just once but a couple of times, ‘what do you expect? I’m just a kid.’

A turning point in my life happened that changed all of that, not overnight but a gradual exposure with truths; and that I will forever regret the years wasted looking for a purpose but now boldly looking ahead and taking on life in a significant approach.

I grew up having a mindset that doing hard things was grown-up work, also for the buffed and gruff men. Moreover, admiring the top students of the class for them to earn such recognition and academic excellence, to me, required hard work; Doing hard things, that was the course of action I resolved to not to do and resorted to the trivial. At times, I am up to the challenge though, but just ‘challenges’ that interest me and not the things that I needed to be working on my favor, like solving math problems – even just the easy ones! Or learning to play a musical instrument, it never would have dawned on me to exert extra effort on such because excuses took the best of me.

I dreamt of big things too. My ambition when I was young at age was to become an air force or airline pilot, then a doctor, then a scientist, as an astronomer and even as a film-maker. However, circumstances eventually slain the ideas one by one and again settling on what I have and groaned about what I lack.

Having those mindsets of just focusing on what interests me, that is – art, drawing, writing, books, at times, going outdoors and yes, video games, computers and other gadgetry did not really make me an unsuccessful person, but it only limited me to what people can expect from me. I can show aptitude in writing as well as repairing and assembling computers but any other beyond what I can expound I shunned off. Did I try once? Yes. Tried again? Often, not. Try really harder? Hard work, hard stuff, hard thing. Not my league.

Evaluating myself, I’d say I do a certain hard task when I am in a group. Group effort seems to wield my ability to try hard, do hard. A group would compensate my rather slim build when it comes to carrying loads physically and mentally. I learn constantly from people and being in utmost support generally yields my understanding. However, when the task is finished, or left undone; the group sets off, disbands and no one else left as tasks or even objectives are complete – it all fades out. I seldom took hold of other groups just to keep the company, only to find that we would rather find trivial and menial appealing than our true potential that we saw having lackluster at that point.

It was only then I realized that I was never afraid of doing hard things, just the thought that it is ‘hard’ vexed me into thinking that I am unable to do it; and it laid a trap for me to be complacent with what I had for the moment and seriously regret the years that I should have worked on, at least, with what I really wanted; until I gave my life to Jesus. He is my perfecter, my strength and reason to continue. Jesus gave me the purpose in life based on what He is able to do and not just because of the choices I made in the past that shaped me, He made me completely new. And from that onset, my hope lies in He who gives me strength, peace and love.

“…we chose to do hard things because Jesus has done the hardest thing.” Do Hard Things, p. 229 by Brett and Alex Harris got that right. Experiencing the love of God in a personal matter shifts your perspective of doing hard things. That is the core of the book, to rise-up from low expectations imposed by the society, by our family and even amongst ourselves.

What is awe-inspiring about the book ‘Do Hard Things’ is not only a book for Christian youth or any Christian reader, the book also addresses to the youths like me, who are very much afraid to do hard things because they gave up, and gave in to complacency at any age. The book, though its by-word is ‘rebellion’ teaches that rising up against low expectations and that what instigates that is realizing truths about God as well as applying practical tips to young readers for them to enact. True to its objective, the book inflicts the society of today as a harbinger of mediocrity that in subtlety poisons the mind of the youth to nothing more than helpless young adults as they enter their formative years. I may not have experienced that much, but I now relate to such culture that OK is OK, and that there is no longer black or white.

The book conveys such relative information on how I as an adult correlate to the younger generation, on how they keep their fire for God and that the backfire would only be breaking mindsets that may as well tear them down. Such discretion from youth that upholds high standards and godly character is something to uphold to. How I long for our generation to have realized that, and how I pray and tell the next to grasp this principle.

The ability for us to do hard things can only be fueled by God, other than that we may all have wound up in frustration, from the book itself, I realized it is never too late to expect high from ourselves and do and do and try and never give up on doing hard things. Whether or not you have outgrown your teen years, or you are making the most of it, the underlying message for us is to ‘do hard things.’ Period.

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