Do Hard Things

As a dad, and parent, life is hard.

Let’s imagine this scenario:

You get home from work and get the mail. What’s inside? Bills. You think, “Ugh. I’ll look at these later”

You unload the car and the kids are wild. Toys are all over the clean living room you spent an hour cleaning the night before. The fighting. The whining. One of them quips, “Dad, I’m hungry”. You reply, “Hi Hungry. I’m Dad” to try to find some solace in the chaos. Well it turns out, that didn’t go over well and now your child is annoyed. At least you thought it was funny.

You instantly think, “Oh right. Dinner.” You give the kids a snack to tide them over while you start dinner. Throughout the cooking process it’s nothing but interruptions. “Dad! Dad! Dad!” as a cacophony of shrieks of little voices every minute or so…

Okay. Back to reality. Does this sound familiar? Does it make your blood pressure rise up a bit with anxiety? I read a book by Steve Magness called “Do Hard Things”. It has helped me to keep my emotions in check during times of turmoil. He was a semi-pro runner and he describes events when time got tough and was able to get out of his head to persevere through.

You can find his book here on Amazon: <a href=”http://<a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Things-Resilience-Surprising-Toughness/dp/006309861X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QT78X1DB75RM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WMlH9jz-vpsKQdd1dHZACBu_5QRTRS1_PcOFyhMTQTReS3Kfbt1ko8_MJOa6q9Xp07ygjitfcXU62AZo7LRo3lT5klEI9Nw3JmR75A2SI6g53y_XzEHKSzx8A-2dB5zhMBFXlDKIhbTDRjY6Wd9dO7_LIFc3y0MANQzyj0KLF_zLgnM6QmnbZ1ruSQWDUNV_YH006Rn8P2on5G55-s5TIKcI1ahFGl6fffSAlA3MyaE.LM45nXtsujXMIrOP5OkkVW-KOgOZKqvtVj7Illz6FTM&dib_tag=se&keywords=do+hard+things+steve+magness&qid=1705424431&sprefix=do+hard+things%252Caps%252C112&sr=8-1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=dadventure04-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=38a979d28b0870f4d7b6d4e7bc9124d0&camp=1789&creative=9325″>Do Hard Things by Steve MagnessDo Hard Things by Steve Magness

We always do hard things as a parent. Very few jobs are as hard as being a parent because you can’t fire your kids and you can’t send them to HR (or the principals) for discipline. But we tend to skip out on other hard stuff because we’re too tired or had a long day. We need to own up to this and keep pushing through.

When you get those stack of bills or the kids yelling your name while cooking do the hard thing and relax. Chill out. Enjoy it. Pain is only temporary but memories last forever.