Do Hard Things

I made a commitment when we started having kids, that I would cut back on a number of activities that I was part of. I did this because as a DINK (Dual Income No Kids) I was free to do way more stuff than most folks. Mrs Ipsa and I were married for 10 years before we had kids and we both had decent professional jobs, so we got to play a bit more than others our age with kids. One of the things I used to be overly involved with was church stuff.

I'm still involved with the running of things at church. I still serve in various activities, but I have cut back on how much I do. However I do still take the time to look into new things that come along that might prove helpful. I was checking out stuff for our teens and I stumbled across a book written by two brothers. Alex and Bret Harris wrote Do Hard Things as teenagers.

The basic premise is that kids have life too easy, they do to little and they need to suck it up and start doing something worthwhile. In their words; teenagers need to start doing hard things. As a kid growing up my father used to say basically the same sort of thing to me. The difference here is that its not a grown up on a soap box gripping about "kids these days". The book was written to kids by kids. As an adult I found the book a tad on the simplistic side. Life, after all has many more ups and downs than a couple of home schooled boys form a upper middle class background have experienced. These kids have yet to experience the "kick in the gut" moments that leave you gasping for breath and questioning if you have the testicular fortitude to get out of bed and face it again.

That is where I am wrong.

I'm a grown man with my own kids. I have grown man concerns. I prepare to face a grown up world that I know about because I've been on the receiving end of grown up heartache and frustration. This book was written by kids to motivate kids. Kids don't see life the same as adults, because they aren't adults. The point of Do Hard Things is that they will be adults and they need to get ready for it, by doing more, taking on tougher stuff, setting higher goals, not listening to the adolescence until your 30 culture and doing hard things.

I'd loan you my copy of the book, but its getting passed around our town right now. Get your own copy, they can be had for less than $10. Read it if you want, just be sure to get it in the hands of a kid. You never know they just might join The Rebelution and that would be a good thing.