You can read a lot of books about the benefits of struggle, whether it's "The Comfort Crisis" or "Do Hard Things". Good books. Good premise. It's a relative of what I am talking about, but not the same.

You can have pride in your sports teams, your school, your kids, your possessions, your position/power, etc. Not the same thing.

Nowadays, you can hire a housekeeper or a yard guy. You can pick up your food. You can take a pill to get skinny. The end result is awesome. But you lack anything to really take pride in.

Maybe other solutions don't resonate with you. Whether it's church/prayer, exercise, or talking to someone about your problems. Maybe that just hasn't done it for you.

But working on something that you take pride in seems to be a full-proof way to feel better. And there are so many options:

- Exercise and eat right to look and feel great
- Keep your yard looking great
- Keep yourself looking great - grooming, sharp clothes with a fresh iron or shined/polished shoes
- Find a project to work on around your house - learn how to fix something that's broken
- Do something service related that has a finished product that you can step back and feel great about
- Make a great meal
- Reign triumphant over a couple of mice that have been wreaking havoc in your house
- Learn how to do something new - maybe it's an instrument or another hobby
- Do something for a friend or family member

The list goes on and on. Work at something. Work hard at something. Fall in love with working hard on something. Don't let the joy be all about the finale. In the words of Michael to McCauley, "The action is the juice".

This is my pep talk before I head out to rake leaves 🙂