Don’t Be Afraid To Do Hard Things

In the fall of 2025, I had the privilege of delivering a convocation address at my college alma mater. And directing some comments to undergraduates who were present, I said, “My hope is that most of you have discovered as I did that when you embrace [the college] environment, it WILL  inspire intellectual, spiritual, ethical, moral and social development and you will definitely be stronger in a very holistic way, but you need to ACT like it.

“Part of what that means,” I said, “is you must be willing to do hard things!  Easy things are comfortable, but they don’t make you grow. When I say it’s all about relationship,, that includes and emphasizes your relationship to your opportunities and challenges.  It also includes your relationship to yourself, AND your relationship to your Higher Power – whatever that means to you. And we could spend ALL DAY just talking about these last two. Don’t be afraid to do hard things!”

There is a wisdom that says, “Life begins right outside your comfort zone.” There is another that says, “ Your attitude determines your altitude.”  And still another – an African proverb – that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” 

When I spoke, I wanted to make a case for getting uncomfortable more often, to keep refining attitudes at all times, and to focus on building good relationships – even with people who don’t make that easy.

I told the audience that the next time they would face a problem that seems unbelievably complex, and difficult to handle, they should ask themselves the question, “How can I see this difficulty more simply?” Why?  Because given the right perspective, we can find a way to view the most complex entities in a simple way just as we can view the simplest things in a very complex way. It is a matter of choice, of choosing a viewpoint that gives you a place to start ...and then starting.

I told them a story about my having been  invited to be the commencement speaker on the campus as an undergraduate ...for a class graduating ahead of me!  TRUE STORY! Talk about a HARD THING! I don’t know that I have EVER been more overwhelmed by a difficult challenge; but I sallied forth in spite of my fear and gave the best I had ... and the result was a standing ovation.  But more importantly, I learned something about myself in meeting that challenge, which changed the course of my entire life.  I think every audience I have spoken to since then has presented a challenge that pales by comparison to that one.

If you have ever heard somebody say, “It IS  what it IS,” that’s not necessarily a cop out.