There is a pretty big chance that you are a wimp. If not, congratulations, there is not that many of you out there these days, especially in this country. America is becoming a country of wimps. How do you find out if you are a wimp?
Have you complained about the weather in last 3 months? Do you say stuff like: I am so ready for summer, or: can somebody stop the rain please? Do you frequently say that you are tired, even if you sit on your butt all day at work? Do you complain that you don’t have enough energy to exercise, or that you don’t have time to prepare healthy foods for yourself?
Do you have to always park your car very close to the entrance of the store and you are willing to wait 10 minutes until some parking spot opens? Do you stay home when it rains or snows and complain that you can’t do anything? Do you get tired if you have to walk 2 flights of stairs?
If you answered yes to any of these, than you are most likely a wimp. And you are not alone. Wimps are everywhere but probably most concentrated in America.
It all starts with parents bringing up their kids. They go too far in insulating their children from discomfort and distress, not realizing that discomfort and distress makes their children grow stronger and be more resilient and become wimpless happy adults.
But that’s not the only cause of wimpines. Some adults, when they become older and “successful”, they become very comfortable, eating rich sophisticated diet, enjoying lots of good wine and moving very little. Everyday entertainment is a must and if they don’t get it, they are depressed. Their days become too comfortable and there is no way to turn back. Suddenly walk in the rain, or having to walk 2 flights of stairs when the elevator is broken feels like an open wound.
If you are a wimp, that’s OK, don’t despair. You already made first important step to not be a wimp, which is knowing that you are a wimp. Lots of wimps don’t have a clue, they are wimps. And as long as you are willing to change and go through some hardship, discomfort and even pain, you are on your way to become a wimp-free individual.
You are not a wimp if you are:
Able to solve a challenging mental problem without giving up after 2 hours of not being able to solve it. You stick with it for another 2 hours or another day or 3.
Example of this is: Your mother in law is coming to town. And you have to be creative to come up with the reason why she cannot stay in your house, find good hotel for her, see her as little as possible and still come out of this as a good son in law. And you will not give up until you find a solution.
Being able to do 50 push ups if you are a man and 25 push ups if you are a woman. Those push ups have to by properly done – all the way up and all the way down.
Being able to do 11 pull ups for men and at least 1 pull up for women.
Being able to run a mile under 7:30 min. for guys and 8:00 min. for girls.
Being able to stay on your feet and hike for 7 and more hours without sitting down.
Being able to get up at 4:00 AM and finish an emergency project by 8 AM.
Being able to stay up all night if necessary to finish a project or to help a friend in need.
Being able to go for a run or walk in a heavy rain, snowstorm or freezing temperature.
If all these seem hard to do or impossible to do, that’s OK. You are still a wimp, but now, you are a wimp that is willing to change.
Physical part of being a wimp like doing certain amount of push ups or pull ups can be changed by a regular exercise and good diet.
The other part, like being able to stay all night up and fishing difficult assignment without crying, getting up at 4 A.M. or being able to function normally in bad weather can be changed by exercising your willpower.
It is really not that difficult to not be a wimp. You will not die stretching your willpower. You might get very tired temporarily, but you will survive.
If brave Japanese engineers can go to radioactive material leaking power plant to almost certain death, you can and should experience uncomfortable, challenging, hard, tiring and scary situations often. That will make you stronger, more resistant to pressure, you will complain less, and you will become better human being.
Become comfortable with being uncomfortable and you will not be a wimp.