Friday, July 22, 2011

I finally do hard things...

I recently heard a speaker share some great things.... one of the little side notes she shared was about a new message or series she was working on that she wanted to call, "I DO HARD THINGS".

That phrase really stuck with me and I am sure her messages will be striking as well.  And tonight...I thought....after a hard decision I needed to make, that I FINALLY do hard things.

Look at this picture of my little Mary Beth.  I took it today as she took her first EVER jump off the high dive!  She is fearless.  She begged me for weeks to let her go off the high dive.  She was NOT scared.  I was scared for her!   But I finally let her (not the hard decision I was talking about, though)...and look at her, doing hard things with a grin.

I think of both of my girls...moving across the world to live a life with a new family, a mommy they don't know, new language, country...  My girls know how to do hard things!   And my boys...growing up to be men without a daily dad present...and a momma stumble-tripping her way through, as she learns...They do hard things too.

And me..finally,  learning to do hard things.   Things others might shake their head about.  Things I might rather avoid the conflict over.....

I am learning so much about choices and reaping what you sow...and having to make a hard choice now, because of something you chose earlier... 

but, FINALLY, rather than taking the easy (and wrong) way out...I waffled and wavered inside, struggling but then ..(whew)...finally made a right/hard decision tonight.   It is nothing earth-shattering in the long run, but it is going to be not well-recieved in the short run.

And a couple things I learned along the way:

1) Don't make decisions when you are emotionally wound-up...you will have to unmake them (or wish you could) in the long run.

2) If something doesn't feel right inside, it probably isn't right, even if no one else seems to think so.

3) Some things just come with too high of a cost for the entire family, even if it would be "fun", or "great" or "everyone else is doing it."

4)  Sleep on it, before you decide.  Always!!!!

5)  The right thing to do might still be hard to do...and maybe even unpopular.  Even so, it is still right.


Hard is still hard, though, even when it is right.

So I am not looking forward to some of the flack I will undoubtably get over the next few days (weeks)  but I know the decision is the right one.

And I am glad I am finally learning to do the hard things and learning to stop taking the easy way out...when it is not truly right.

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