Riding Unicycles

          My youngest son found a forgotten unicycle left in a closet by an older brother. He wanted to learn how to ride it, so we took it out to the farm (forgiveness is easier than permission) and he began to try it out. He persisted for several days and then the dust began to gather on it as it lay forgotten on the ground. The task proved harder than his desire.

            This same thing happens to all of us. I still haven’t learned Spanish even though I spent four years in Panama and taught in a school where nearly half of the students were Hispanic. How many people have pianos that get fiddled with but are not worth tuning because no one left at home can play?

            Helen Keller once said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Growing up, I heard a lot about Helen and the struggles she had. She was deaf and blind, yet still learned to talk and read. Her desire proved equal to the task. (I don’t think she ever learned to ride a unicycle though.)

            Sometimes the challenges we face are not choices, but are shoved in our faces like a smelly fish head by a little boy. We don’t have any choice but to “buck up, shut up, and get it done!” Right now I’m facing one of those challenges with getting our house on the real estate market. I don’t like having to fix all the things that were broken over the years and the kids who broke them have all moved out. Kids!

            The success of selling the house will be worth it in the end and along the way I’ve learned how to fix some things I didn’t know how to before. I’m smarter than I was when we began and I still have all my fingers. That’s success too. My wife has learned that painting isn’t as bad as she thought, and my only child left at home has learned how to avoid a whole new bunch of chores. See! We all grow through challenges and struggles.

            I know that sometimes we can’t see the end of the tunnel and doubt that it’s really even there, but it is and we can only reach it if we keep going forward. Because of our persistence, our character will be strengthened and we will emerge victorious. Thomas Paine wrote, “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

            No matter what struggles you’re going through right now, just keep these things in mind. You will get through it and it will be worth the effort.