Time for Toughness

Let's slay some dragons.

I will always remember the time a woman shook my hand at the sign of peace during Mass and remarked on how soft my hands were. She said I must not have done much work. 

I was so embarrassed. I ran home immediately after the liturgy and lifted some weights.

It seems as if I'm not alone. 

A 2016 study of grip strength found that millennial men scored significantly lower than their parents' generation when they were the same age. 

A 20- to 34-year-old man could apply 98 pounds of force on average, but in 1985, the average for men of the same age was 117 pounds of force.

It seems that years of video games and smartphones — and much less manual labor — make a difference. 

My generation may be lacking in more than just physical toughness. Look at the ways a college will try to help students reduce stress during the time of final exams. People have been taking tests for many, many years. They did not seem to need coloring books and therapy dogs until recently.

Many of us could benefit from toughening up a bit. Fortunately, there's no shortage of opportunities to do so. By committing ourselves to someone or something and making it work, even when it's difficult — especially when it's difficult — we can develop grit.

Commitment may not improve our grip strength, but it will develop our mental toughness for the challenges ahead.

I write about commitment in my book, The Freedom of Missing Out. If you have read it, it would mean so much if you left a review on Amazon. Thanks!