I Can Do Hard Things (take 394)

It's becoming a theme in my life, I've posted about it a couple of times {quite possibly with the same title minus 394} but life is hard.  I can do hard things.  Today I realized that anything in my life that has been worthwhile has been hard at some point.

• Getting up the nerve to try out for volleyball in High School.  I was so afraid I'd fail, not make the team, etc.  It took a lot of courage to show up to those try outs.  The day after I thought I'd never be able to move again.  My legs and arms had never been so sore from anything.  Worth it?  Yup.  Wish I could find a v-ball team around here to play on and kind of sad my YW don't like v-ball as much as basketball.  I'd be able to help them a ton more if they'd switch favorite sports.  {If I get brave and find it, I may even post an old v-ball picture}
• Going back to school with 3 kids.  Definitely hard, definitely worth it, definitely was a necessity.
• Trek, part 1 {this came up as I was wondering if the pioneers ever wondered if things would ever be easy again}  Toddler who refused to wear her shoes and ran everywhere barefoot -- including through the cactus and a medically complicated infant who cried constantly.  3 days at Martin's Cove with us an a handcart.  Worth it.
• Trek, part 2.  Hard in an entirely different way.  Our youth went as a stake and I ended up being Medical Team Lead.  You know, because I had so much time between trying to put the Primary together, being a single Mom and working full time.  I thought I'd have a pattern to follow, a list of suggested supplies, someone to talk to who'd done it before for our Stake.  Turns out it was the first time we went as a stake so no lists, no patterns, no sage advice.  A lot of what not to do's {it's easy to want to do something like start an IV to rehydrate a kid but it's also easy to lose your license that way}  Worth it in more ways than I can count, there are still things I'm realizing I gained from that experience, I could write a length blog about just how worth it that was.
• Taking an unpopular stand.  No details I'm willing to publish online, but took a stand against some pretty big egos and drew a clear line with set rules.  Rules may have not been followed, but everyone knew my position and that I was not willing to compromise.  Worth it.  Had people who were in a position to understand where I was coming from later tell me what a tough spot it was to be in.  Validation was nice too.

This is by far not an all inclusive list, just barely scratches the surface truthfully.  It also isn't a list of the hardest things, perhaps it's just the safest list to share. The things I gained from each hard experience couldn't have been gained had they been easy.  Yes, if I wasn't so nervous about trying out for volleyball I could have still made the team and formed those friendships but it was a defining moment for me -- first time I hadn't let my nerves and fear of failing stop me from trying something that seemed hard.  It was an early step to choosing to do hard things because the experience is worth it.

So, here I sit feeling like I'll never been a good enough {anything} because it's too hard and I just want to give up.  Except I can't give up, this isn't like trying out for volleyball.  It's life and life is hard.  I'm certain at some point down the road I'll look back on this time and be able to say "worth it"  The thought even crossed my mind earlier that I should be grateful things are hard right now -- I don't know that I'm strong enough to say that with full confidence though.

Wow, look at our hair -- I remember getting it that big was pretty hard to do too.