The Hardest Thing On Earth

by Widdershins

I have a quote by Katharine Mansfield up on my wall above my computer desk where I write all this stuff. It goes like this …

‘Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.’

It’s a pretty wild quote don’t you think?

Every time I get freaked out about this whole Wunder-Lusters thing,(and believe me it happens a lot, sometimes they’re small freak-outs and sometimes they’re, not) I read that line I’ve used as the title of this post.

You wanna know what the hardest thing for me is? What the hardest thing has been for me for my whole goddamn life? Doing the hardest thing.

I’m good at a whole lot of things. For a high-school dropout I’ve managed to build an impressive skill-set. I can draw you up a set of houseplans, I make a mean spaghetti bolognaise sauce, I’m a pretty damn good writer. I can fix just about anything with a piece of coathanger wire, duct tape and a crochet hook. I can talk knowledgeably on a list of things from A to Z, and a just as many things I know nothing about, like … hmm, there’s a whole list of ’em but that’s not my point.

My point is that of all those things I’m good at not one has ever risen above the level of ‘really good’. Well, some of ’em have got as high as ‘really, really good’, but nothing has ever … shone, bright enough to qualify for having accomplished that ‘hardest thing’.

I have no idea where Wunder-Lusters is going to take me, us, or how we’re going to pay for it, or what I’m going to become, but I do know this, I’m going deaf, I wear three strengths of glasses, (for different things, not all at once) I’m down to half a working knee, and arthritis is starting to kick in everywhere else. Sometimes the future scares me so much I can hardly breathe.

I’m 61 years old, it’s time to do the hardest things.

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46 comments on “The Hardest Thing On Earth”

  1. derrickjknight says:
    15/12/2019 at 3:47 AM

    Gosh, Widders, you do have a lot of ailments for one still so young. With the aid of Mrs Widds you will prevail.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. Sue Vincent says:
    15/12/2019 at 5:02 AM

    You go for it, Widds. I empathise…and at the same age, I really do. When you hit the road, you’ll b living my dream.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. quiall says:
    15/12/2019 at 5:16 AM

    Some days the hardest thing to do is get up. That can be daunting. But you do it and you do it well! No one in this entire world is better than you at being you. Take great pride in that!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  4. jenanita01 says:
    15/12/2019 at 11:13 AM

    I have been having frustrating thoughts about how we can move up from being okay, to something a lot better. Trying not to accept that this might be all there is…
    Not you though, you are going to make next year so much more exciting!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. Olga Godim says:
    15/12/2019 at 12:10 PM

    Life knocks all of us down once in a while. Health problems, money problems, family problems – sadly, we are all familiar with them. The trick is: every time life knocks us down with one of those buggers, to get up again, put our feet one in front of another, and keep going. And do it for ourselves. I think our 60s is the time to finally start loving ourselves.
    And I think that is what the quote means. Not “do the hardest thing” but “do for yourself.” What you want. What you need. No sacrifices for anyone else anymore.
    Am I too self-absorbed? Maybe. But if not now, when I’m 60+, then when?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  6. Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt says:
    15/12/2019 at 12:30 PM

    The hardest thing is always to keep going – life throws so many curveballs you can’t hit them all.

    Pain – especially chronic, longstanding pain – reduces our capacity to get anything done, to ever get ahead of it all. But keep plugging away, and you’re doing something.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  7. acflory says:
    15/12/2019 at 1:38 PM

    You’ve just described almost every Indie author I know, including myself. We’re Jack-of-all-trades type people because we need to be. If we weren’t, our stories would be lifeless. Do the hardest thing and keep believing in yourself. I know the tyranny of time, but in theory at least, writers have no use-by-date. As for that arthritis…

    If you can get your hands on bottled sour cherries – sometimes known as ‘black cherries’, or Morello cherries – a small bowl full with yoghurt [optional] for breakfast helps the symptoms. Can’t remember the name of the thing in sour cherries that acts like a mild anti-inflammatory, but it works. Purple carrots [purple all the way through] have the same component. And the best thing? Neither of them destroys the lining of the stomach like commercial anti-inflammatories.

    You have time. We have time. Believe. -hugs-

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Audrey Driscoll says:
    15/12/2019 at 4:37 PM

    Sometimes we make things too hard for ourselves, as in, “If I did it, it couldn’t have been that hard.” Or “If doing it makes me feel good, I’m not trying hard enough.” Give yourself credit!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Widdershins says:
      15/12/2019 at 6:23 PM

      Thanks Audrey 🙂 … I do most of the time but probably not as much as I did last night when I wrote that post though … actually it was 3am. I could feel myself backtracking into old avoidance and procrastination patterns. Writing it was a well-deserved reminder that those patterns are out of date.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  9. Kathy Lauren Miller says:
    15/12/2019 at 6:55 PM

    I love that quote: Risk and do the hardest thing. Hey, 60 is the new 50!
    The quote I have taped to my computer: The thing you are most afraid to write, write that!
    Like you, I make myself do the hardest thing. I hear the naysayers too. But what do they know?
    I hunker down, do it anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. Admin says:
    16/12/2019 at 1:49 AM

    YES. I totally get this. I’ve done some pretty cool stuff, accomplished some things. But none feels like ‘the hardest thing’. I think I’m about to embark on that, but who knows? Maybe it’s still waiting for me around the next decade.
    All we can do is be brave and take the next step, right?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Ruth Nestvold says:
    16/12/2019 at 8:19 AM

    Go for it!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. athousandbitsofpaper says:
    16/12/2019 at 2:38 PM

    I love that quote – I may very well steal it for my desk. As for average – the largest percentage of this big rambling planet full of humans are average. Do you think we should bury our heads in the sand simply because we don’t stick out high enough? That we are not entitled to our voice because it is not famous? Live a big life and damn the critics – who cares if no one ever knows about it apart from those closest to you – you’ll know and you will be more satisfied for having lived a great big life. I love your posts – you are a great writer – go wander lusting and tell us all about it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  13. Suzanne says:
    16/12/2019 at 4:26 PM

    Following the wanderlust urge is fabulous thing to do. It expands you and takes you to new places physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Sometimes there are real low points. Other times there are highs that could not be imagined while staying at home in one place.

    When I was 61 I had chronic fatigue syndrome. At the worst of that condition I felt like I was at the bottom of very dark and very deep well. I wanted to get out of that well but figuring how to do it took a few months.
    I realised I need to change my life. I wasn’t getting anywhere with the healers I had so I decided to leave my rental house in south eastern Victoria, Australia and go to Byron Bay in NSW, an alternate healing centre.
    Once I had made the decision to change,things moved quickly. I sold or gave away most of my possessions. I discovered that the more I lightened the load the freer I felt. I had more money then than I do now so after a couple of months I packed what I wanted to keep into my hatchback and drove north. I was very worried about how my health would hold up so I drove slowly and took a lot of breaks.
    As it turned out Byron Bay didn’t give me the magical cure-all I hope for but it did serve as a jumping off point into new adventures – physically and, most importantly for me at that time, spiritually. Over the next few years my life completely changed. I went overseas (twice) then eventually moved back to Victoria and settled in a different area. The chronic fatigue came back sometimes but overall I was a lot healthier than I had been. I’m at another crossroads now and am not sure where it I am being called to go but know that listening to these inner promptings to change is about the most important thing we can do with our lives.

    These are times of great change – I’ve read somewhere that the time for sitting by the river watching life flow past us is over. The river bank will soon be washed away in these great currents of evolution that are washing over the planet. It’s time to get in the river. Call on all the spiritual strength you’ve gained over the years and jump sister, jump. Spirit will guide you 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Widdershins says:
      17/12/2019 at 12:59 PM

      Thanks for these wonderful words. 😀 … I never saw the attraction that Byron Bay had for so many people. Well. I understood it, but never felt it. I never delved deeply enough into the sub-cultures that felt it was their spiritual home I guess. 🙂

      Like

      Reply
      • Suzanne says:
        17/12/2019 at 2:04 PM

        I used to love Byron Bay but it’s very touristy now . I was deeply involved in those sub-cultures for a long time. Then it became more shamanic – now – it’s shifting again…

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  14. Su-sieee! Mac says:
    17/12/2019 at 8:39 PM

    As some say, old age is for tough folks. I’m in the same basket with you, Widders. We’re in a black hole, but I feel okay about it because I’m going through it with the Husband and Missy Molly the wild Cat. Thank goodness.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. thereluctantpoet says:
    18/12/2019 at 5:24 PM

    Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  16. The Hardest Thing On Earth ~ Widdershins | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo says:
    21/12/2019 at 1:00 PM

    […] Continue reading at Widdershins World […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  17. dweezer19 says:
    03/01/2020 at 4:32 PM

    I understand your sentiments. Hugs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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