Surprised?
I was.
You see, the literal definition of being tough describes one’s ability to withstand or endure hardship. I feel most people immediately gravitate to known hardships and conditions such as pain, fatigue, cold, dehydration, attitude, etc. Throughout my adventures, I’ve had many adverse conditions to endure:
Fighting muscle cramps in stifling heat and humidity
Trying to sustain enough critical body heat in frozen worlds
Finding my breath in air that’s void of the oxygen to fill my lungs
Staying dry in a cold, mountain rain/snow/ice event
However, the more I thought about toughness, the more I found myself being led to this simple truth: toughness is the ability to remain steadfast in spite of being surrounded by the unknown.
In each of my tough challenges, I had an idea of how long the hardship would last. Knowing that there was an end in sight provided great comfort and gave me strength to endure which got me thinking that the greatest level of toughness is when you don’t know how long you have to endure. How do you find strength when you can’t see the end?
By far, the toughest challenge for me is following my passions in the midst of all the unknowns of life’s journey.
After years of following the ideal path, I suddenly found myself at a crossroad. One direction was to continue down the ‘ole familiar path…the pursuit of the known. The other road led somewhere I had never been nor could imagine…a place where success would be life-changing and failure would be devastating.
I took it.
Much like those boaters, I headed into the unknown, propelled by my passion for adventure and telling stories. During my journey, I’ve found it takes a lot of strength and endurance to continue pursuing my passions since they don’t provide the comfort and convenience I had grown accustomed to having. It takes the greatest level of toughness.
I have often dreamed and prayed for some kind of signal. A timer of sorts that tells me when this challenge ends, but that’s not how life works. It’s far more adventurous and requires far more toughness to follow your life’s calling.
