I'm a huge fan of songs that tell stories. I'm also a huge fan of punk music (no judging please) Every so often, I will come across a punk rock song that tells a story with the blistering intense emotion and speed that punk music is known for and I'm hooked. Rise Against is a punk band that has somehow maintained a reasonable amount of relevance. (if you haven't heard of them, it's ok. They played to over 70,000 at a festival in January of 2020.) I think related to that relevance is the fact that they tell stories in a lot of their songs.
They also sing a lot about difficulty.
Difficulty resonates with all of us because we all have to deal with it. Maybe that's another reason Rise Against remains relevant. The book of Job which many historians date as the oldest book of the Bible has told readers for thousands of years that difficulty is common to man. In essence, it's part of being human. In our modern western world victory, success, and overcoming are practically ingrained in us. We also like to personify our difficulty. If we are facing difficulty, we are taught there is an enemy to defeat in order to overcome that difficulty.
However, there are difficulties in life that you will not defeat. You will not subdue. You will not overcome.
But you will need to outlast.
The pandemic was a clear example of this type of difficulty. You cannot overcome something that is happening to you that is outside of your control, you just have to outlast it. We did not defeat, subdue, or overcome the pandemic. We just picked our heads up one day and realize that we were beyond it. We will say, 'wow, remember when...' At that point, we will have outlasted it. BUT, the realization that we are in the midst of something that can only be outlasted does not mean we twiddle our thumbs and bide our time. There are some specific actions we need to take to make sure that outlasting difficulty does not cripple us along the way....
How to outlast difficulties.
Stay active and engaged - There's a famous quote that goes something along the lines of 'discovery is reserved for those that take action.' Newton's first law of motion states that things that are in motion tend to stay in motion. It's a well known fact in warfare that stationary targets are easier to hit than targets in motion. If you want to outlast difficulty, stay in motion. Stay active. Stay engaged. In your marriage. As a parent. At your job. In your self-care habits. In your community. Around the house. Do not sit still. Stay active, stay engaged.
Stay focused on purpose - You matter. You have purpose. You are like a stone tossed into a pond creating ripple effect all around you. I believe that you were created for a purpose by a God that loves you.
It is amazing how we can keep going and ultimately outlast difficulty when we remember that we have purpose. You matter and you have purpose. You do. You really do.
Eliminate 'zero sum' thinking. Zero sum thinking is perceiving the outcome of a situation as having a winner and a loser. While that thinking can work well at times when it comes to certain negotiations, sport contests, and political debates; it is incredibly deflating when applied to difficulty. There is no scoreboard, there is no direct opponent. There is only the marching on of time. And part of outlasting difficulty is to keep marching with time. You won't win. You won't lose either. You will simply outlast.
Eliminate the idea that quitting is bad. Ok, back to the punk band, Rise Against. They have an outstanding line tucked away in an outstanding song called Letting Go. The line states, 'this isn't giving up, this is letting go.' Wow. What a line. When trying to outlast difficulty, there will be things that would be critical to let go of and we cannot perceive our letting go as giving up or quitting. In fact, letting go might be the only way to outlast. We have all watched at least one movie with a scene in it with a character that refuses to let go of a bag of money, or pack of jewels to the point that they lose their lives in the face of that danger. If they had simply let go, they would have survived.
Outlasting transforms us. It lays the foundation for the battles that you can overcome and the conflicts that you can defeat in the future. If you want to overcome the battles that you have not yet fought make sure you know how to outlast difficulties.
However, there are difficulties in life that you will not defeat. You will not subdue. You will not overcome.
But you will need to outlast.
The pandemic was a clear example of this type of difficulty. You cannot overcome something that is happening to you that is outside of your control, you just have to outlast it. We did not defeat, subdue, or overcome the pandemic. We just picked our heads up one day and realize that we were beyond it. We will say, 'wow, remember when...' At that point, we will have outlasted it. BUT, the realization that we are in the midst of something that can only be outlasted does not mean we twiddle our thumbs and bide our time. There are some specific actions we need to take to make sure that outlasting difficulty does not cripple us along the way....
How to outlast difficulties.
Stay active and engaged - There's a famous quote that goes something along the lines of 'discovery is reserved for those that take action.' Newton's first law of motion states that things that are in motion tend to stay in motion. It's a well known fact in warfare that stationary targets are easier to hit than targets in motion. If you want to outlast difficulty, stay in motion. Stay active. Stay engaged. In your marriage. As a parent. At your job. In your self-care habits. In your community. Around the house. Do not sit still. Stay active, stay engaged.
Stay focused on purpose - You matter. You have purpose. You are like a stone tossed into a pond creating ripple effect all around you. I believe that you were created for a purpose by a God that loves you.
It is amazing how we can keep going and ultimately outlast difficulty when we remember that we have purpose. You matter and you have purpose. You do. You really do.
Eliminate 'zero sum' thinking. Zero sum thinking is perceiving the outcome of a situation as having a winner and a loser. While that thinking can work well at times when it comes to certain negotiations, sport contests, and political debates; it is incredibly deflating when applied to difficulty. There is no scoreboard, there is no direct opponent. There is only the marching on of time. And part of outlasting difficulty is to keep marching with time. You won't win. You won't lose either. You will simply outlast.
Eliminate the idea that quitting is bad. Ok, back to the punk band, Rise Against. They have an outstanding line tucked away in an outstanding song called Letting Go. The line states, 'this isn't giving up, this is letting go.' Wow. What a line. When trying to outlast difficulty, there will be things that would be critical to let go of and we cannot perceive our letting go as giving up or quitting. In fact, letting go might be the only way to outlast. We have all watched at least one movie with a scene in it with a character that refuses to let go of a bag of money, or pack of jewels to the point that they lose their lives in the face of that danger. If they had simply let go, they would have survived.
Outlasting transforms us. It lays the foundation for the battles that you can overcome and the conflicts that you can defeat in the future. If you want to overcome the battles that you have not yet fought make sure you know how to outlast difficulties.
*Bonus content! Here are some resources to dig deeper on this topic: 'Grit' by Angela Duckworth, Great by Choice' by Jim Collins, 'The Compound Effect' by Darren Hardy, 'God and Pandemic' by N.T. Wright
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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