The Hard

Jimmy Dugan: Dottie, if you want to go back to Oregon and make a hundred babies, great, I'm in no position to tell anyone how to live. But sneaking out like this, quitting, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Baseball is what gets inside you. It's what lights you up, you can't deny that.

Dottie Hinson: It just got too hard.

Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.

- A League of Their Own

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The hard.

The hard is, well, hard. It's tough. It challenges you. It's scary. The hard makes you cry. The hard steals your joy. The hard wears you down.

Work is hard. Waking up early every day is hard. Being stuck inside on a beautiful day is hard. Not getting a promotion you deserved is hard. Losing your job is harder.

Relationships are hard. Doing life with other people is hard. Relationships are messy, and making something neat out of the mess is hard. Fights are hard. Misunderstandings are hard. Forgiveness is hard.

Faith is hard. It doesn't always make sense, and being confused is hard. Trusting is hard. Believing in something that you cannot see is hard. Hoping for light in the midst of darkness? That's hard too.

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Coldplay sings, "Nobody said it was easy / No one ever said it would be this hard." But I'll have to disagree with you on that, Chris Martin. Jimmy Dugan says it's hard. I say it's hard. And most importantly, God says it's hard. We can choose to believe that it's supposed to be easy, but truth be told? It's supposed to be hard.

But the hard is what makes it great. Without the hard, as Jimmy Dugan says, everyone would do it. The most rewarding things in life, without fail, only come with the hard. The hard work gives meaning to the end result. The hard times lead to the happiest ones. The hard decisions reap the greatest rewards. The hard sacrifices teach us the most about our priorities. The hard obedience exponentially grows our faith. The hard leap takes us to a landing place we've only dreamed of. The hard goodbye leads to the most blessed hello. The hard "I'm sorry" yields an invaluable "I forgive you."

In all of these hard times, we're tempted to quit, because quitting? It's easy. Life, though? It's hard.

But it's supposed to be hard. That's just the way it works. We live in a crazy, sinful, messed up world, and, as beautiful and wonderful as it is, it's guaranteed to be hard. We can have hope, though, that in the end, the hard - the blood, sweat and tears, the trials and tribulations - the hard...is what makes it great.

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"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

- John 16:33