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

Fear

 "My fears would surely kill me If I didn't know the truth The things that I'm afraid of Are afraid of You" ~ " Things That I'm Afraid Of " - Josh Wilson     I had reached a place a couple of years ago where I was more or less fearless, or so I thought. Then the pandemic hit, and while I was never afraid of the virus, I was afraid of what would happen because of the quarantine and separation from others. Unfortunately, some of those fears came true, and having some fears come true has led to new fears feeling even stronger.     Recently, I have been bombarded with a wave of new fears that has threatened to overwhelm me. My car needs expensive repairs, my dad is facing an unfair situation that I can't help him with, and I am in a new relationship, which is wonderful and scary at the same time. In fact, I am posting this much later than I initially wanted to. Those fears were so strong that it was hard for me to put into words how I was feeling, and ev...
Post a Comment
Read more

I'm a What, Now?

"But you, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world"~1 John 4:4 Those of you who read my post " Life>Death " will remember that I talked about a young woman who called herself a suicide survivor because her father took his own life, and then used her status as an endorsement to talk about how suicide was not a selfish act. In my post, I stated that since she did not actually survive suicide, she was not a suicide survivor. However, I found out recently that family and friends of suicide victims being called "suicide survivors" is a thing. As in a psychologist-defined, support group namesake thing. As someone who has actually survived the temptation to commit suicide, this fact is quite frustrating. One reason is because of people like the young lady mentioned in my other post thinking they are experts in suicide because they are "suicide survivors." I don...
Post a Comment
Read more