Hard Things

 When I was a junior in high school I decided to take a physics class. I had taken a lot of math and done alright and the teacher was one I had had before so I figured I might as well take it. I showed up the first day and it went all right. Things were going good til we got our first assignment anyway. It was conversions and I had the hardest time figuring them out. The next day after I turned in my assignment (I'm sure I didn't do much of it) my teacher called me into his office. He looked at me and told me that maybe physics was a little too difficult for me and maybe I should look into getting out of the class and finding something else that was more my level. I was speechless. I finally managed to say "ok". I left his office gathered my things and made my way to the counselors office to figure out what else I could take. I ended up in a social dance class-it seemed to be more my level.
I was pretty upset about the whole situation. I had never been told something like that before.
Now, I am not blaming my teacher for any life long issues or insecurities. This story just illustrates how I deal with things. I didn't rise to the occasion and work hard to get it. I didn't set out to prove my teacher wrong. I didn't study and find help. I just gave up. I can see how my life has followed that same pattern of giving up, or not even trying. All it takes in one failure and I walk away from something and don't try again. I've always known I do this, I just never felt like do anything about it. I guess now I need to find a way to get fired up by my short comings and find a way to work and strive for success.When my sister on serving her mission in Cambodia I ended every letter and email with the sentence "you can do hard things". I guess it is time I take my own advice.
Reading this post was actually the trigger of this memory.