“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt had spent almost every day up until the age of 12 dealing with asthma. Frequent attacks would almost kill the frail boy. The slightest exertion could force him to lay in bed for weeks at a time.
His father decided to make a small gym for him on their second-floor porch. He told young Theodore that he would give him the tools that could be used to make him better. One might think that a pre-teen child would say ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ but instead, the young future president of the United States replied with another statement which was: “I’ll make my body.”
Young Roosevelt worked out every day for the next five years, slowly building muscle and strengthening his upper body against his weak lungs. By his early twenties the battle against asthma was essentially over, he’d worked—almost literally—that weakness out of his body.
This was only the beginning of mental fights for Roosevelt. He lost a wife and his mother almost back-to-back of one another, he faced several strong political enemies who hated his agenda, was defeated in elections, and he survived nearly fatal assassination attempts.
Many of us make excuses for our weaknesses or we even use weakness as an excuse. How many times do we say “I can’t do this because…” and then provide some reason that we have rationalized in our head is adequate for not putting in work to overcome our obstacles?
Not everyone accepts a bad start or a problem in life. They remake their bodies and their lives with activities and exercise or some form of work. They prepare themselves for difficulty. Do they hope it never comes? Absolutely! But they prepare for it in any case.
Are you making excuses or are you making a plan to get stronger?