A newborn baby takes its first breath as soon as s/he is born. From that moment forward, s/he will continue to breathe, in order to live in this world. With each milestone, s/he will need to overcome barriers in order to learn new skills, new words, and new behaviors in order to navigate the world s/he is in. Is it hard for the baby? Definitely.
So is this a fact that life gets harder as you get older? Or is this a rhetorical question?
Let’s take it further. It is often said that being a teenager is hard. Young, full of life and energy, yet unsure of who they are, and with little or no money to do all the things they want to do; plus, the need to seek parents’ approval…
And then teenagers begin to apply themselves… i.e., they start to grow up. They gain skills necessary that gives them independence. They learn how to earn enough money to afford self-paid holidays, to pay for further education, to buy a car, a house, or whatever they want.
Is life still considered hard? Ask any adult, and the most likely answer is, yes, life is hard as an adult.
Life is hard because they might have the means to have what they want as adults, but they might not have the energy after slogging the whole day to do all or enjoy all the things they want. They might not have freedom while juggling with being responsible for family, for staff, and so on. And so when a person hits beyond 60… perhaps freedom comes when a person retires, but living can become hard when the physical body starts to deteriorate…
So life IS hard.
But is it necessarily true that life gets harder as you get older?
Not so.
How I see it is that the hardship factor is determined not by age or time. The hardship factor is determined by a person’s ability and capability to ride through it. For example, a baby who is just learning how to sit up will find walking hard; versus a 5 year old child who has the ability to walk and the stamina to walk over long distances will not find walking hard.
When I sit back and think about the “hard” times I have been in, one thing consistent shows up: the hard times usually coincide as defining moments in my life; moments when I was “forced” to think outside the box for new solutions, moments when I asked myself, what I really wanted, moments when I had to look deep within me to find the inspiration or the motivation to steer me towards the course I want to be on. In exchange for the hardship, I gained new skills, knowledge and wisdom.
Just imagine going through financial difficulties. I personally have missed paying my bills on time and I’ve learned from those mistakes. After getting hit with those devastating late fees, I took steps to ensure that I would never miss another deadline again. So far, I haven’t. It is safe to say that I have learned my lesson.
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