Do One Very Hard Thing Every Day

A few weeks ago I woke up with some words in my head, words that I felt strongly that I needed to share with my children: "Do one very hard thing every day."

I have been following this challenge myself for the last few days. Some of my hard things may not be hard for other people but they are hard for me. My daily challenges are aimed at helping me conquer my fear of heights, my dislike for throwing parties, and my fear of accident and injury. Also my avoidance of talking to certain people or of doing certain things because I don't want to appear foolish. Now I'm not suggesting that these things endanger life or limb, but I am suggesting that we stretch ourselves a little bit.

Do we welcome growth? Do we welcome opportunities for change? Do we want our children to learn to do very hard things? Are we proud of them when they overcome?

It can be an exhilarating feeling to overcome challenges and to conquer new frontiers. A few years ago we took a family trip to Switzerland, my ancestral homeland. This trip tested my fear of heights in every way. Here is a picture of my family driving a thirteen passenger van on a one lane road with sheer drop offs on the side:

I went on the steepest cog railway in the world. I took my children on hikes (well, actually they took me) with sheer dropoffs and no railing. I did some very hard things for me. And it paid off.

When I came back to America and tried doing a hike on a mountain that had previously scared the living daylights out of me I was better. We made it to the top. So, try hard things. Stretch yourself. It will be an exhilarating ride.

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