Hanging in there is no small victory

​It's been a challenging week. On the way out of the office the other day a co-worker and dear friend said, hang in there. I told her, don't worry about me, hang in there's my middle name.

I wasn't dismissing her encouragement. It meant the world to me. And the truth is, in many ways, my response wasn't a short response to her as much as it was a big reminder to me.

A reminder that my life is a story of fall into the pit, jump into the pit, get pushed into the pit, but always, no matter how I got in that pit, mine is a story of always rising from the pit.

Tim Ferris says, "as good as it feels to have a plan, it's even more freeing to realize that nearly no misstep can destroy you."

I think we all have perceptions of how life would go in our ideal world, but the more we chase that perception the more we come to realize we don't live in an ideal world.

It's inevitable, either we misstep or life missteps, but one way or another our plans are constantly facing pits.

There's surely value in having plans that help you avoid as many pits as possible. That's wisdom. But I've come to believe there is also value, maybe even more value, in developing a mindset that doesn't fear the pits.

Having a mindset that declares, no pit has swallowed me whole yet, and today won't be the first pit to do so.

If you had a hard week, celebrate. Not that you SURVIVED the week, but that you BEAT it.

You did.

The pit had a chance to swallow you whole, but you declared over it that hang in there is your middle name.

Hanging in there is NO small deal. We sometimes underestimate just how giant the force in life is that is constantly encouraging us to call it quits.

Call it quits on our dreams and plans and hopes. Call it quits on our will to do life at all.

So if you had a hard week, celebrate. Look life in the face and say nice try, but hang in there is my middle name.

Don't you know that about me by now, life?

You woke up today. Go make something of the day. What's the worst that can happen? I don't know, but chances are you already beat whatever it is.

You'll do so again.

Because hang in there is your middle name.