Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Life is Hard, but Beautiful

About 10 months ago I started a new life with a wonderful woman who has profoundly changed me for the better. I thought I knew what to expect when I got married, but it turns out my expectations were only a fraction of it. I guess I expected an incredible first year where we could just love each other and be best friends all the time and have fun and laugh and go on adventures and finally not have to say goodbye at the end of the night. Well, this part of my expectations was correct. But, what I didn't foresee was everything else. I consider myself a reasonable person. I knew there would be hard times, too, but I guess it's like most big challenges in life; they always end up being way harder than you could have prepared yourself for.

And honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in the responsibility of it all. I find myself wishing there was an easy way out of financial struggles, an easy way to juggle 34 hours of work a week and 12 credits in school, and still somehow find a few hours to spend with my wife in the week. A shortcut would be such a relief.

The hard truth is that, for the future I'm hoping for, shortcuts don't exist. Anything worth striving for, any dream you may have of becoming something great requires work, sometimes even pain, tears, and suffering.

Tonight, as I sat in the little room in the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, the principles of diligence and patience hit home and brought a familiar, intense understanding, the likes of which I've felt many times before. There are so many things that a person can be; so many things a person can accomplish in his or her lifetime. But the kinds of things that are actually worth being and accomplishing often take just that: a lifetime. The things that will really make you happy take work and thought and loads and loads of self-discipline. They require sacrifice.

And sacrifice, if done for the right reasons, doesn't have to be unbearable.

I guess I kind of already knew all this. I mean, I'd been told all of this. But there's a difference between being told something and learning something, and recently I feel like I've been learning. And I like learning. So give it your best shot, life.

1 comment:

  1. You guys are always welcome to dinner, clothes washing, or anything else we can offer. We love you both!

    ReplyDelete