I step out with the dogs into the morning darkness and 8-degree air. The ground is hard, it shimmers with frost, and there’s a smell of leaves and cold in the air.
My memory immediately rewinds back to November 1976 where it is similarly early, cold, and dark. I’ve dragged myself out of bed at 6 AM to do something I dread: jogging down Greenvale Avenue to the football field at Saint Olaf College.
Once I get to the field, I sprint. I run as fast as I can for as long as I can. This is my primitive form of conditioning before the basketball season. It’s hard and I hate it.
But what I dislike even more is the thought of having to do those wind sprints that will be a part of our daily practices in a few weeks. Wind sprints are the bane of every basketball player’s practice routine. They are a conditioning drill where you sprint back-and-forth between various lines on the basketball court. Lungs and legs get pushed beyond their limits.
The only thing that made any of these hard things endurable was a deeper drive and knowing: I loved playing basketball.
What are the hard things you’ve had to do in your life? What are the hard things that continue to show up for you?
Many times, pain comes to us without our choosing. But here I’m talking about those hard things we choose to do because there’s a deeper drive and knowing within us.
Maybe it’s having that conversation you dread. Maybe it’s decluttering part of your life. It can be choosing to eat differently or exercising more. It may be sitting down to meditate or pray. It may be thinking more kindly about yourself.
I think on one level our souls enter this life to do hard things. To learn from challenges. To grow capacities and awareness through them.
So, I hope, when you find yourself doing hard things, you can also find the deeper things you love. And, while you’re at it, give yourself a big pat on the back for doing the work your soul is calling you to do.