Hard Times Make Strong Men…
Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times. This an old saying that gets thrown around a lot these days. Personally, I love the saying and the mentality behind it, when you are strong you can provide, earn, and live more fully and happily. Good times abound to those who are willing to work hard to build good, beautiful, and strong things. So why focus on the hard times? Why stress hardship and adversity?
In my experience, the best way to build strength is through adversity. Mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical strength are all shaped and forged through various forms of hardship. Life will test you from time to time and it is only through the strength you have built from years of experience that you are able to power through. The same as training your muscles drives you through your day to day life, the struggles you face can only be beaten back through the lifetime of strength you have built.
I’ve seen miracles, alcoholics and drug addicts who the world gave up on turning their lives around and becoming wildly successful. Veterans who have struggled against trauma and mental illness who, despite being left behind by their friends and families, have been able to recover and rebuild from nothing. These aren’t uncommon stories. Most people just never take the time to listen to them. But these kinds of miracles happen everyday and they are brought into being by a lifetime of experience and unrealized strength.
Most people go through life never understanding the power and strength they possess. We wander through life searching for meaning, struggling through our day to day, and envying those who have more than us. We rarely take the time to stop and consider the immensity of the strength we have, or the variety of our strengths. Strength can be described as much more than plates on a bar or running speed or striking ability. Our strengths often hide in our dark corners, the blind spots where we seldom pay any attention and such they pass us by.
If you’ve read this far I challenge you to take a moment to evaluate your own strengths. What hardships have you overcome? What demons have you tamed? When were you at your lowest and how did you make it through? Take a second to answer to yourself and take inventory on just how tough you are, how far you’ve come, and all of the power you’ve gained from all of your trials and tribulations. Take note of your strengths and use them to stamp out your own weakness. never stop getting better.
Rule No. 5 at DATC is “Do better than last time”. We approach every set in the gym as a new opportunity to get better, to push harder, to improve on our best. We believe that striving for excellence is key to reaching our goals. Every day is a blessing and an opportunity for growth. Hard times make strong men, adversity builds character, and experience builds strength. Every day is a new day to do better.
Do better than last time.
God Bless
