“Life isn’t supposed to be hard… really?”

Have you ever heard this? I have heard the words spoken from many, and far too often it’s meant with the best intentions.

Most of you know I have a strong faith, but unfortunately some of those messages come most strongly from those who share that faith. “If God’s in it, it won’t be hard… If the job is too hard, the relationship too challenging, the deal on the house or car or whatever doesn’t work out just as you want… “It’s not meant to be.” After all, life isn’t supposed to be hard if we follow the plan set out for us, right? Hmmmm….

Maybe this non-truth resonates more the older I get, and the fact that my boys and their friends are getting older. Instead of this message, I want to shout from the mountaintops: “It’s going to be really hard! Anything worth it generally has a tall order of pain involved. Sometimes, there will be tears. But it WILL be worth it!”

Some things that came to mind:

• College: Yep, pretty hard lessons – lots of fun, but lot’s of work. It was always the “tough professor,” however, that stood above the others.
• First 10-20 years post-grad (adulting 101 and 201): Yep. Again, marriage was hard, learning how to deal with bosses in a new career, learning how to pay the bills, deal with a broken washer and unexpected expenses. Yep… check mark all of those…really hard.
• 40+- aging parents (and so on): Again, hard. But how special is that time? And what a great opportunity.

I think we need to be careful what we share with one another and specifically how we encourage. Sure, I’m a positive person and I believe in all kinds of good. In fact, many may say I wear the rose-colored glasses – I’m deeply and innately positive. Perhaps that’s why I felt it should be me that points this out.

Let’s set each other up for success. Let’s not encourage one another to run away from the obstacle courses of life – even the ones that might bruise us. Let’s grab each other’s hands and help push, pull or whatever it takes to get through it, not only alive but on fire for life. It’s worth it – every single time.