Sticking It Out

David Brooks on doing things that aren’t easy because you feel compelled to do them.

But when you look around you see a lot of people out there choosing to do unpleasant things. I don’t just mean those adventure freaks who feel compelled to climb Mount Everest, walk across Antarctica or row the Atlantic — though all those things sound truly miserable. I mean us regular folks leading our regular lives.

All around us there are people who endure tedium to learn the violin, who repeatedly fall off stair railings learning to skateboard, who go through the arduous mental labor required to solve a scientific problem, who agree to take a job managing other people (which is truly hard) or who start a business (which is insanely hard).

Since I’m going through a particularly difficult challenge as a people manager right now, I could relate to these thoughts.¹ I was a shy kid who never would have pictured myself in leadership. I’ve been managing people for over 15 yrs now. I haven’t always been successful, but I’ve probably had more ups than downs, and I’ve grown in the role. At times, it’s tempting to try and find a way to throw off the mantle of leadership. Ultimately, though, if you feel like God has placed you in a situation for a reason, your sense of resistance is not as powerful.