Do hard things

The older I get, the further I get away from the day-to-day life in the SEAL teams, the clearer I become on a great many things.

The older I get the clearer I see the importance of being a father, of staying alive and being attentive to my family.

The older I get the easier my reactions are to politics and threats of the end of the world and existential crisis like global warming trends trailing an ice age.

Yet something is not being made clear to our society and our youth today and social media is spanking the true hardness out of youth. So, sit back and listen and watch or read what I am going to share. If this pisses you off, good? If this inspires you to act, even better?

Let me first just come out and say it, 90% of the people listening to this have No fucking idea what Hard is. You lead a protected life and the real predators are all but killed off. And you can go to a store and buy food or even steel it. You don't understand hard.

Let me tell you some truths:

Marriage is hard

Divorce is hard avoiding either is weak

Being fat is really fucking hard getting fit is hard as hell avoiding both is weak

Losing a job and having debt is hard

having financial discipline is really hard. Taking a govt hand out is weak

Speaking plainly and clear is harder than you think

Deciding not to speak is also hard

Blaming others for speaking out is weak

Being straight is hard being gay is really hard Not having intimacy at all is weak

Making and keeping a promise is hard quitting is extremely hard on your life

Never committing is weak

Learning to fight and face violence is hard not learning to protect your self is rude and hard giving up the right to protect yourself is weak

Being a republican is hard being a democrat is hard

Not taking a side is weak

School is hard

not going to school is hard

Expecting a job because someone else is successful is weak

Being born male is hard being born female is hard

Not accepting either is weak

Waking up early because you want to is hard

Waking up early because you have to is hard

Hitting the snooze 5 times is weak

Training for an ultra marathon is very hard

Not training for anything is even harder on your body

Drinking beer watching a football game is weak

Being injured and watching others progress is hard

Helping others through injury is very hard

Having never been injured or helped another is weak

Being a dad is hard

Being a mom is hard

Not trying to raise a family at all is weak

Killing is very hard

Watching someone be killed is hard

Never facing down an enemy at all is weak

If you are on the weak side, hard will find you and you will not be ready.

As I close and trust me I could go on for days about the weak times I see and the hard men and challenges I have witnessed, yet let me say the hardest thing you will ever have to encounter is starting over with nothing.

I wish everyone that level of hardness. I wish you the hardness it takes to start over at the bottom with nothing.