"The Struggle Is Real"

--some millennial in my class one time

I was talking to one of my kids recently and I told them that every single thing that I have that is worth something to me came with great struggle.  To wit..

My job.  

I worked very hard in Ramona Franklin's psychology class when I was at LBW!  Psychology was like a foreign language to me, having never taken a class in it in high school.  Taking a year off from school because I was completely without motivation was hard.  My time at Troy was a struggle.  My first job, at Andalusia Middle School, was very hard.  It was probably harder for my students, and I am sorry you had me when I was wet behind the ears as a teacher--I didn't know much.  Going to graduate school was hard.  One summer I took 18 graduate level hours in 5 weeks.  Getting this job at LBW took a lot of work!  And wow, was it worth it!  

My kids.  

Every single person reading this who has children knows how hard it is to raise kids.  From diapers to terrible 2s to adolescence to seeing them leave the nest (which will happen for me soon with Grant)....it's all very, very difficult.  Thrown in a divorce, and it is only compounded.  But when I get to play music with my kids, or take them camping, or laugh at movies, or give them gifts at Christmas, all the struggle seems to evaporate right before my eyes.  

My house.

Mortgages.  'Nuff said.

My music.

I have no idea how much time I've spent practicing the trumpet.  Or how many lessons I've taught.  Or how many lectures I've given.  Or how many tests I've graded.  Some days, I leave the classroom feeling like I didn't make one bit of difference.  What's it all even for?? But then a kid says "thanks for helping me be a better player."  And that outweighs all the stress of being a professional teacher/musician.  

My constant awesomeness. 

Now that, is a struggle!  It's exhausting.  I don't know how Superman did it.  I'm just kidding!

The truth is there is no great thing without some struggle.  Some pain.  Some loss.  Some cost.  And while the cost may NOT be paid BY ME, there is always a cost.  I think it's important for us to remember that.  To be mindful of the cost of things.  Not the price, but the cost.  

The price is how much money you had to give up for something.  The cost is all the other stuff you had to forfeit in order to buy it.  

I hear things like "it didn't cost anything."  Maybe not money.  But it probably cost time.  And is there a more valuable commodity than time??  If there is, tell me what it is.  I'll wait.

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Ok, I got tired of waiting.

We don't appreciate things we don't struggle for.  We all know it.  Ask anyone who's done Couch-to-5K how much they appreciate what they've done for themselves.  Or someone who learned to play an instrument.  Or someone who learned to walk again after an injury.  Or someone who learned to go on with life when all seemed pointless.  They all struggled, and they all got results.  

In the film A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks' character is talking to the girls and he says this immortal line:  "It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.  The 'hard' is what makes it great."  (Anyone involved with Southwind knows exactly why it choked me up a bit just to type that.)

On my desk sits a framed quote which says "Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it.  The struggles are coming.  They're probably always here, actually.  How we respond to them determines everything.  

Have a great day!!