The old saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That’s a nice notion. I like the flip side of it too. It implies that when the going isn’t tough, there isn’t a need to be tough.
Human Nature
Crazily, that really isn’t contemporary human nature. We love tough. My recent re-entry into the world of working out has re-acquainted me with this. Taking it easy can be so hard.
I am guilty of this in exercise, work and life in general. I say that I just want to take it easy but then I find myself constantly enamored with the idea of just doing a little more or doing it a little bit harder. Eventually, day after day of just a little more leaves me tired or injured or less effective than I should be.
The Difficulties Will Find You
Because it was exercise that got me thinking about this, I’ll tell an exercise related story. It’s advice that I am very adept at following in running and less so in regular life.
I’ve run a few marathons. Occasionally, people ask me for advice on how to run the race. What I have to say usually surprises them. I advise that if, early on, your pace feels right, there’s only one thing to do. SLOW DOWN! It shouldn’t feel right. It should feel to0 easy.
I like to say that in running a person shouldn’t go looking for the pain and difficulty because pain and difficulty will find on their own.
Questioning Tough
That’s how it is with life. The pain and difficulty will find us. And, when they do, we will need all of our strength and resources to persevere. It seems that if things are “easy” we think that we are doing something wrong. Usually that’s not true.
If it’s easy and we are progressing toward a goal then we are on the right track. When things feel easy, we continue and if we continue the results are bound to be good.
It’s when things are hard that we need to look deeper and ask a question. The question to ask is, “Is this really a tough time or am I needlessly making it into a tough time.” There is a good chance that we are just being silly and making a run of the mill situation unnecessarily laborious. Tough times should be the exception and not the rule.
And, we need all of our energy when those tough times arrive. If we are already worn down when the trials and tribulations arrive our chances of overcoming them are severely decreased.
The Self-importance of Tough
I’m spending the week questioning “tough” times. When I get gripey and whiney because things are hard, I’m trying to step back. Turns out that I have not had a single tough time this week. At first, I was sure that I had had a bunch. There have been a few frustrations and inconveniences and a lot of times where I just needed to get serious and do my job. But, there hasn’t been a single time that anything has been tough.
That’s the best news ever right? Turns out there is one drawback. The feeling of self-importance that I’ve been cultivating, by thinking that I was dealing with a healthy dose of “tough”, has evaporated.
Seems that I’ll need to channel the reserves freed up by my new found ease into something really important and not just self-important. I can’t wait!
Human Nature
Crazily, that really isn’t contemporary human nature. We love tough. My recent re-entry into the world of working out has re-acquainted me with this. Taking it easy can be so hard.
I am guilty of this in exercise, work and life in general. I say that I just want to take it easy but then I find myself constantly enamored with the idea of just doing a little more or doing it a little bit harder. Eventually, day after day of just a little more leaves me tired or injured or less effective than I should be.
The Difficulties Will Find You
Because it was exercise that got me thinking about this, I’ll tell an exercise related story. It’s advice that I am very adept at following in running and less so in regular life.
I’ve run a few marathons. Occasionally, people ask me for advice on how to run the race. What I have to say usually surprises them. I advise that if, early on, your pace feels right, there’s only one thing to do. SLOW DOWN! It shouldn’t feel right. It should feel to0 easy.
I like to say that in running a person shouldn’t go looking for the pain and difficulty because pain and difficulty will find on their own.
Questioning Tough
That’s how it is with life. The pain and difficulty will find us. And, when they do, we will need all of our strength and resources to persevere. It seems that if things are “easy” we think that we are doing something wrong. Usually that’s not true.
If it’s easy and we are progressing toward a goal then we are on the right track. When things feel easy, we continue and if we continue the results are bound to be good.
It’s when things are hard that we need to look deeper and ask a question. The question to ask is, “Is this really a tough time or am I needlessly making it into a tough time.” There is a good chance that we are just being silly and making a run of the mill situation unnecessarily laborious. Tough times should be the exception and not the rule.
And, we need all of our energy when those tough times arrive. If we are already worn down when the trials and tribulations arrive our chances of overcoming them are severely decreased.
The Self-importance of Tough
I’m spending the week questioning “tough” times. When I get gripey and whiney because things are hard, I’m trying to step back. Turns out that I have not had a single tough time this week. At first, I was sure that I had had a bunch. There have been a few frustrations and inconveniences and a lot of times where I just needed to get serious and do my job. But, there hasn’t been a single time that anything has been tough.
That’s the best news ever right? Turns out there is one drawback. The feeling of self-importance that I’ve been cultivating, by thinking that I was dealing with a healthy dose of “tough”, has evaporated.
Seems that I’ll need to channel the reserves freed up by my new found ease into something really important and not just self-important. I can’t wait!
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