Toughies Paddle Upstream

When I was growing up, my Dad had an expression he would throw out once in awhile: Toughies Paddle Upstream. He got the expression from a t-shirt he got after his first trip to the Boundary Waters on the border between the U.S. and Canada. He loved to canoe and he canoe'd the Boundary Waters. It was tough though, because one has to paddle upstream. If you've ever rowed a boat, you'll understand the difficulty that paddling upstream can be. 

While the expression referred to paddling upstream, literally, my Dad used it figuratively to describe life. The tough paddle upstream. Undaunted and undeterred, they see an obstacle and they overcome it. I feel that it's a good metaphor...it's fitting. 

In our lives, we all face hard times and obstacles. How we deal with them makes all the difference in the world. Do you want to lay down and give up, or would you rather try to conquer it. The end result is more satisfying if you conquer rather than quit. Trust me on this.

In my own life, I've been through many hard times, and I've dealt with them in the worst and the best of ways. Recently, I almost had a regression into dark times, but I thought about my Dad and could hear him say, "Toughies paddle upstream," and I decided that it was time to row myself out.

Thanks, Dad.