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Sometimes You Have To Be Tough

We own a small hobby farm about 2.5 miles away from the Wisconsin border. We don’t grow corn nor cattle, but we did have bee hives.

We’ve a large garden and 25 acres of savannah-like land that we’re turning back to prairie. We work the land pretty hard: We cut, sweat, plant, burn, push, pull … and we definitely work. We even get stung by our own bees. I got stung right on the end of my nose: My eyes watered, my nose hurt and I felt stupid for not wearing my bee gear; it was hot.

The funny thing is that you get used to being stung. Because of our daily work, our hands have callouses and our skin is thick. We’re toughened by our surroundings. I look around me and I see tough farmers. But I look further and I see softness.

I see, read and hear of easily over-worked, easily offended people who have no “tough” about them. If they get stung by a bee or develop blisters during hard work, you might not hear the end of their woes.

Sure, it’s better that we’re more sensitive to other’s pain. But people have gotta toughen up a bit too. Laugh it off, eat a few Tylenol, and go forward with life.

Just because someone nudges you doesn’t make it a personal attack. And if you don’t like something, speak up! Life is tough, and we all need to toughen up. That doesn’t make us indifferent. It just makes us ready for the struggle that life continues to be.

I’m John Harris, and that’s my perspective.