Perseverance

Life is hard.  You hear that all the time.  Each of us deals with a different version of 'hard', and different degrees, but in our little bubbles a lot of what we face seems 'hard'.  That's one of the great benefits of church and religion to me: to realize it's a lot worse for a lot of other people, and to be very thankful for what I have.  But then a day or two later it will seem 'hard' again...

Young men need to learn that most things seem hard when you first try to do it.  Great if it doesn't and you're 'a natural'.  But that is the exception rather than the rule.  The key is learning that hard doesn't mean impossible.  That hard can become easier the more you practice.

I know it was always frustrating when my Dad was trying to teach me something (fly fishing, racket ball, stick shift driving, etc) and it seemed so easy to him and I couldn't even get the most basic aspects down.  But he wouldn't let me quit.  He may not have ever said 'don't quit' but he kept me practicing and trying, he was there for me every step.  As he knew, soon enough the basics would gel and the light would come on, and I would 'get it'.  And we all know that sense of satisfaction when we reach that point.  That sense of accomplishment is quite a high, and everyone deserves to experience it. 

But to get there you have to keep trying.  You have to persevere.  If you quit you have definitely failed, and there is no way to every have that sense of accomplishment in that task.  You will never 'just get it' one day down the road when you haphazardly try again.  You can't let children quit.  The best things, the biggest sense of accomplishment, require the hardest work. 

I'm going through this right now with swimming lessons.  I think knowing how to swim, and being able to swim well, are very important.  The little boy would rather sit and play Legos all day (which I can understand!).  Oh we saw fits and screaming and stomping about going to lesson #1.  But sure enough he had fun and saw that it wasn't impossible, that the instructor wasn't just going to throw him in the deep end and say 'swim!'.  He's going to keep going, no matter what he says.  And I know each time he comes home he will have had fun, and will be having little versions of that sense of accomplishment.

And I'm definitely looking forward to that day when he swims to me, maybe it's only 5 feet, but I know he will be jumping for joy.  And soon after that he will be a little fish, showing me how he can dive down to the bottom or swim the length of the pool.