A simple admonition that is very difficult to even understand let alone apply. All of us believe that our lives are more difficult than anybody else’s life. Our “woe is me existence” sometimes paralyzes us in ways that are unknown to others but are acutely known to us. We spend our time ruminating on things that cause us to be discouraged and that push us down to levels that we think we will never recover from.
Determine to be tough
It’s our job as members of the human race to find a way to overcome these mindsets and, to be fair, realities that keep us from being the best we can be. All of us have gifts and talents that we brought with us into this mortal existence that we have given up on due our poor self images or bad things that have happened to us to negate our optimism. When we become self-aware and we discover our limitations we have to become tough. In fact, we have to become tougher than anything our lives have dealt to us. It is here that we dig in to move us in a direction that advances our lives to the winner’s circle.
Determine Where I Am First
In my bodybuilding career I have faced one disappointment after another. Couple these disappointments with real life difficulties that threatened to derail my bodybuilding effort and you will conclude that I should just quit. But, since I have decided that bodybuilding is a quest then all these heartaches and episodic failures must be overcome or lived through until they disappear. In order to see my way clear to continue I have to consciously thicken my skin and be more determined to succeed. I have to see these hard things as temporary and painful. I also have to view things as “where I am” and what I need to do to continue to the winners circle.
Determine where you are, reassess, what go forward
When I face potentially career ending hardships I take the time to reassess where I am and what will be required to get by these things so I can continue. I retreat to a place of quiet where I can do some thinking. Invariably there appears an answer and sometimes the answer is not pleasant but it is an answer nonetheless. We have to establish in our hearts that living through anything is the order of the day, to get what we want. This simply means we have to become “tougher than my life actually is” to succeed. I cannot be bogged down by the daunting task in front of me.
My son and Leukemia taught me toughness
My son, Nathan got Leukemia when he was 11. We thought we were going to lose him. The Oncologist told us that in order to get to the other side we will have to go down into the valley with his treatment. It was here that I determined to be bigger than life and tougher than my life to endure the hard work and pain that I faced. I dug in, did my job in the Air Force, ran clothes and other items to and from the hospital during his treatment, I spent countless nights with Nathan in the hospital so he knew I was there. He survived after tons of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and procedures. He is an adult and is one of my best friends. God intervened but he left the toughness to me.
Be Tougher Than Our Lives
In closing. When we are cornered by things bigger than us, get alone to think through your next move. Prayer is a good leveling activity that focuses us on the problem at hand. Determine during this time that we want our goal so much that we will become “tougher than our Lives” to attain the trophy.
Until next time. I remain Douglas E. Graham, Lt Col, USAF, (ret), MHSM
Six Pack and Senior 