When life gets hard, don’t wish it to be easier, decide to be stronger.

How infinite is our own internal reservoir of determination?

Life has a way of showing us that it is far more expansive than we would be willing to forecast.

There are so many chapters of life in which our world will evolve, it sometimes seems a miracle that we are able to surf all of the permutations at once. Between our personal, professional, emotional, physical and spiritual dimensions, we are often times finding our footing solid in most categories, but completely uncertain in others.

As we mature through these processes, stumbling at first, and then finally finding our stride, our goal must always be to regain balance, mature through the experience and emerge even more substantial for having accomplished such.

There are no instruction manuals provided that enable us to follow a predictable procedure in order to elevate our chances of succeeding. Many sages have drafted books and other media that explain their approach to these issues, and while a small percentage of society find them and use them to seek their wisdom, a majority of people are unaware of their existence.

Instead, people are left with motivational aphorisms, like, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” These thoughts unquestionably have value, and when left to our own interpretation of them, we are able, in most cases, to summon the courage, will or determination to continue, regardless of circumstance or consequence.

Far more interesting and valuable (to me) are those explanations that take such a thought and expand on it, such that the reader/listener/viewer is able to find a pathway to leverage that thought, and implement it. When the going gets tough, we are (in many cases) brought to our knees in fear of whatever it is that seems so ominous at that moment in time. So when we hear that “the tough get going,” does that really carry any depth of information from which we may rise from our knees and find that path to get going again?

In a deeper exploration, there may be a thought process that starts with an explanation that the only way to accelerate out of that spiral is to stop and stare fear in the face. This is accomplished by a final acknowledgement of what the element causing the fear is, what its implications are, and a rational consideration of every possible opportunity that one might avail themselves of in the course of solving that particular issue. 

When those variables have been fully flushed out, one must optimize their options by anticipating the possible outcomes of utilizing each and every one of the options that were forecast. Only then, does one have a clear and rational ability to see which of the myriad opportunities at their disposal carries the greatest likelihood of success. From those options, one must finally choose a minimum of one of them to pursue. That is where the “tough get going.” 

Perhaps life might be easier if it came with a complete instruction manual. But perhaps life is far more interesting, and our powers far more viable, for our having accelerated at our own pace through each of these chapters, using whatever means and methodologies are at our disposal. Perhaps it is the continuous discovery of the internal reservoir of resources that lie deep within us that powers our decision to be stronger.

Life will never be easier. It will only arrive with new challenges and setbacks that give us cause to mature even further.

Happy Thursday!