Skip to main content

Choose Your Hard

I saw a post earlier this year about choosing your hard. It said:

Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard.

Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard.

Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard. Choose your hard.

Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard.

Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely.

I thought the post was good and appreciated the sentiment. Then shortly after I saw this post, I saw another one where these words were crossed out and others were added underneath. They said:

Marriage is hard. Staying in an unhappy marriage is harder.

Obesity is hard. Because it's stigmatized. Fit is not always accessible to everyone.

Being in debt is a complex socio-economic phenomenon often related to privilege. It is not necessarily related to "discipline".

Communication is complex. Learning to communicate is a lifelong experience.

You don't always get to "pick your hard". And thinking you do is the epitome of privilege.

 While I can see where this edited post is coming from to an extent, I think the author wildly oversimplified their argument. It is true that sometimes we don't really get a choice in some things that happen in our lives. However, we can still make choices that will improve our lives.

Take being in debt, for example. It's very true that people with lower incomes can't always choose whether or not to be in debt, but they can prioritize their debts. Being in debt via a mortgage to have a roof over your head is very different from being in debt because you buy things you can't afford just because you want them.

Obesity is another one that I can kind of see their point about. I have been overweight for most of my life, and even though I'm eating healthier and exercising, I am not losing weight like I want to. However, that doesn't mean that doing so has no benefits. I am stronger and more flexible than I used to be. I have also discovered how punching a punching bag is not only a great arm workout but a terrific destresser as well. While the weight remains, I am much healthier at my current weight than I would be were I not taking steps to change it.

I agree that sometimes we face times in our lives where it seems like we have no choice, but even if we can't choose our circumstances, we can always choose our attitude. Sure, it can be hard to have a positive attitude when our circumstances are anything but positive, but a negative attitude is no less hard to maintain. With God's help, we have the power to choose joy, choose to follow, and choose our hard. Pick wisely.


    

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Changed and Transformed

I am currently starting the fourth week of an online Bible study based on the book Living So That: Making Faith-Filled Choices in the Midst of a Messy Life  by Wendy Blight. I was drawn to the study because of the title. When I first saw it, I thought, Living so that what? Where's the rest of the title?  I now realize that the title was referring to those verses in the Bible that have the words so that  in them. The book has five chapters, each split into five parts and having a memory verse tied to the topic of that chapter. In the study, we are doing one chapter a week, and can split up the five readings for the week however we want to. I choose to read them on weekdays right after breakfast so that  I start each work day with some time spent in God's Word. Chapter One is "Jesus Came So That," and the memory verse is John 3:16. I figured, I know that verse in two languages. I got this.  I didn't figure I would have any trouble with that week because I alre...
3 comments
Read more

Help Me Find It

Much of my life has not been easy. There are many times when God's will for my life didn't seem very clear. One of those times was just after I graduated college in December 2011. Less than a week after my graduation, I found I was not admitted into the school counseling program, which was my second choice of masters programs. I had been planning to get a master's in special education, but after two failed student teaching attempts, that future was no longer possible. So right before Christmas, I found out that other than having my apartment for another semester, there was really no good reason to return to Manhattan. I did return, and ended up taking a couple of classes. I considered looking into another master's degree program. After much prayer, I decided that instead of jumping into applying for another master's program, it would be better for me to return home at the end of the semester and get a job as a para so I could gain more experience working with childr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bleed the Same

"Only love can drive out all the darkness What are we fighting for? We were made to carry one another We were made for more"-" Bleed the Same "~Mandisa Late last week, I was on Twitter, and I noticed quite a few posts about the school shooting that occurred on Valentine's Day. Most of the posts called for people to pray for the victims and their families, but others took a more combative tone on the issue. One of the ones that was particularly disturbing to me came from someone who is not only a good friend of mine, but also a Christian role model. This person insinuated that Republicans are a bunch of hypocrites because they call for immigration reform following terrorist attacks but don't want the shooting to be politicized because the families of the victims need to be left alone to grieve. Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a series of divisive tweets I have seen recently from this person, and they are by no means the only one doing this. I...
Post a Comment
Read more