We can do Hard Things!

Chip Gaines (from HGTV's 'Fixer Upper') has a saying with his kids, "the Gaineses can do hard things."

I want our kids to be drawn to what's uncomfortable because the good stuff takes work. It's an honor to do a hard thing because we know that it's going to produce great results, and on the backside of those results is where you have the opportunity to change the world.

I love this, and at first I thought, "Okay, Madisons can do hard things!" But that's not what Chip said!

Chip didn't say to his son, "Drake, you can do hard things," or to his daughter, "Ella Rose, you can do hard things." He said, "The GAINESES can do hard things."

His family does hard things together.

I struggle with this. I've always been an island unto myself, a good example being my house- every time I move, I never accept help (or ask for help) from friends. And when they move, I don't offer to help either; it doesn't occur to them to ask and it doesn't occur to me to offer (yikes). When I moved to Seattle in late 2019, I literally hired a TaskRabbit person to help me assemble furniture because I didn't feel comfortable asking a friend for help.

But this weekend I enlisted two different friends to help me with house stuff I couldn't do solo! Now, I'm going to invite a whole group of people to help me clean up the leftover trash in my backyard from the previous owner (and obviously feed them and provide drinks.) And if any of them need help? You KNOW I'm going to be there (and have been already!)

I don't have to do hard things alone anymore. In fact, I SHOULDN'T do a lot of hard things alone! Life is so much fuller this way.