Do Hard Things

I just finished reading a book called "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris. It's a book written mainly towards teens, by teens, but the content applies to everyone. It's basically calling us to rebel against the low expectations society has for us, and to do hard things for Christ. The authors say that the teen years are actually the years where we have the most potential to grow and take big steps in life.

But doing hard things doesn't necessarily mean starting a big non-profit organization, or speaking in front of thousands of people. It could be a small, personal hard thing, like changing the type of people and influences we surround ourselves with, or taking a step to tell someone about Jesus.

The book is extremely challenging, and I'd encourage all of you to read it. The guys put hard things into five categories:

1) things that take you outside your comfort zone
2) things that go beyond what is expected or required of you
3) things that are too big to accomplish alone
4) things that don't earn an immediate payoff
5) things that go against the cultural norm

Doesn't sound too easy, does it?? But the stories they share in the book of other people doing hard things show how much those experiences help us to grow. Doing hard things requires character, competence and collaboration... and there are definitely challenges and failures along the way. But even then, the end result is a stronger, wiser person who has learned a lot about him- or her-self and, most importantly, God. Pretty cool, huh? I can't summarize the whole book in one post, so I'm leaving it up to you to check it out. Let that be your first hard thing: to find this book and read it :) God bless!