When the Going gets Tough..

So many times I have heard stories of strength through adversity. People in dire circumstances who have had to innovate in order to survive, who land up discovering a whole new way of life. Isn't it amazing that we seem to need some sort of hardship to learn life lessons, or to find new pathways to success in the entirety of its meaning? I wonder why we don't often learn the same kind of lessons during times of ease and prosperity.

The old saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going," seems to be so very true. "Tough" is also a relative term. What is tough for me could be a breeze for you, and what is tough for you may be totally extreme for me.

Our Response to Pain

One thing that has always fascinated me is the way people respond to pain in its various forms. Two people brought up in the same family and environment often respond in completely different ways in situations.

I was involved in working with abused women some years ago and it always amazed me how one woman would rise up and take hold of opportunities presented to her while many others would give up and wallow in their hardships. What makes one "tough" and others seem weak?

The Optimist and the Pessimist

I once heard a joke about twin sons where the one was the eternal optimist and the other a complete pessimist. The father decided to test their attitudes and so for their birthday he filled the pessimist's room full of brand new expensive state-of-the-art toys and filled the optimist's room with horse manure. He eavesdropped on the boys and was amazed. He heard the pessimist moaning and groaning that he would have to keep his room tidy and that he was fearful of breaking the toys, so he went outside the optimist's room. To his surprise he heard giggling and the sound of digging. "With all of this horse manure in the room, there has to be a pony here somewhere!"

As for me, I choose to be one of the "tough".