I love that saying because it sums up LIFE!

This is the way life is, it is the way it always has been and I am going to suggest that it is the way it always will be.

And that is good!

I don’t think it should be any other way because it is through the trials, pains, and failings we ALL experience, that we become the person we are.

The better you become at dealing with hardship, struggle, and suffering, the better equipped you are to deal with the crap life is going to throw at you.

The younger you are exposed to hardship and challenges, the soon your mind adapts to accepting life as life, and the less likely you are to fall prey to the "poor me" syndrome.

Every generation becomes softer than the last as modern ways of living took hold and become part of everyday life.

I remember being blown away by a square dot bouncing side to side on the TV screen when the Atari first came out, I remember 2nd year and the NES and everyone talking about the AMAZING graphics.

Now our children are born into a world where the internet and computers are just normal.

We can video call our family with handheld devices, order anything from anywhere at the click of a button. But this ease of life has its costs.

The cost is our ability to deal with discomfort.

For generations, humans had to endure hardship daily.

Winters were cold, clothes were hand-me-downs, kids slept 6 to a bed, food was whatever was put in front of you and you either ate it or you went hungry.

Nowadays kids cry because they don't like peas or carrots or they didn’t want smiley faces and us, the parents, react to their cries like trained chimps and give them what they want, even though they were the ones asked for the food they no longer want in the first place.

Are we really doing them a service?

Is pandering to their every desire and allowing them to vegetate in front of screens all day, helping them to become the best possible versions of themselves?

What happens if the net goes down?

What happens if there is a war/natural disaster/alien invasion

You get the picture.

We grew up building forts and dens, climbing trees, running, jumping, getting dirty.

It has been something kids have always done and it is something they still will do IF we expose them to it.

We give them the electronic devices because

A. There mates have them

B. Life has evolved and they are an integral part of society today

But that doesn’t mean they need them all the time.

Think back to your childhood.

Sports, two-man hunt, football in the street, scouts, rainy holidays in a caravan in some coastal area of Ireland playing snakes and ladders or yatzy or watching a black & white tv powered off a car battery.

But we LOVED THEM!

We went out in the morning and didn't come back to we were hungry then back out again, you couldn’t keep us inside if you tried.

Nowadays it’s the complete opposite and WE are responsible!

We are the parents and we gotta own this shit because then we open the door to changing that.

We are helping to shape their outlook on life.

What happens in 25 years when these snowflake kids are faced with REAL LIFE CHANGING decisions and events?

This is why the likes of weightlifting, martial arts, team sports, athletics, etc are so important for development.

It teaches ownership

It teaches responsibility

It exposes them to pain

It exposes them to suffering

It exposes them to self doubt

It removes the blame on others

It shows them that they are the deciding factor in their success

It doesn’t care if they are finding things tough or not, it is there to conquer or be conquered