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Monday, April 08, 2013

H is for Hard

The Road TakenI wrote 458 words tonight. That was really hard. Usually I can write a lot more in the time I took, but for some reason, the words weren't flowing. Plus, I've been thinking of what I'm supposed to write for "H" and that was hard too. I also had to get two excited little girls to bed. We're supposed to get a huge snowstorm tonight and tomorrow. We got the snow day phone call just before bedtime. Do you know how hard it is to get little girls excited about a snow day to GO TO BED!

I'm trying to eat healthier, and that's hard. Mostly because I crave bad foods, and though I try not to keep them in the house, a bad food always sneaks its way into my tummy.

In fact, I think about a lot of things in my life, and the reality is that a lot of my life is hard. And even as I try to list the things in my life that are hard, and barely scratch the surface, I know that my life isn't nearly as hard as others. Still, I always wish I had an easy button, like on the commercials, but the easy fairy hasn't made her presence known.

A friend of mine recommended The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck. I've read the first chapter several times, but  I never seem to get past it. He says, "Life is difficult." And he's right. He talks about how you have to accept this fact to get to the good stuff in life. I'm sure he says it more eloquently than I just did.

I'm not sure I've gotten to a place where I can accept that life is just hard, but I am learning to look at the hard stuff in life and do it anyway. I didn't want to write. I wanted to take a bath and read a book. But I would like to finish writing this book, and so, even though the words were hard, and I don't like what I wrote, I did it. Maybe I'm not yet where I want to be, but I'm closer. I think if I waited for it to be easy, it would never get done.

I used to have a poster of the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. It's my favorite poem. I wish I still had that poster, but I guess since I have the poem memorized, it doesn't matter. I like the reminder that the more difficult path is the one that ends up giving you a feeling of accomplishment.

So... life is hard. But I'm hoping, that if I push through the hard things, and do the hard stuff anyway, it will be worth it.

How do you handle the hard times?

6 comments:

Clayton Malek said...

A-Z is currently hard with so much going on at work. Through tough times, I try to keep things in perspective, and try to see that my whole life has not been a complete disaster. It's no easy task but I try to see my recent challenges at work as defining me rather than getting carried up in things too much. Cheers

DanicaFavorite said...

Perspective is important! Good luck getting through the challenges. Here's to more definition!

Becky Daye said...

Oh, such a great post, Danica! One that I can certainly relate to! One of the things that I always try to remember is that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. There is always a reason for the hard and when I can look for it, I find that it wasn't as hard as I thought it was.
Thanks for your faithfulness in writing- even when it's hard!

DanicaFavorite said...

Thanks Becky! You're so right about the reasons for the hard. Even though sometimes I admit that I don't like those reasons very much. :)

amyctilson said...

I try to remind myself that as I've come out of past hards, I've seen a reason, or at least growth, Growth is a reason in and of itself. The fact that this is all temporary helps, too. Hang in there.

DanicaFavorite said...

Very true!! Thanks for the encouragement.