The other night I was out for some din-dins with some buddies when one of them mentioned in passing that learning German over the last two years was the hardest thing that he has ever done.

Made me think about what's been the hardest thing I have ever done, and I have been thinking about it ever since. I'm pretty much drawing a blank. I think this might be for a couple of reasons.

1) I am lazy and avoid doing things that I find hard.
2) When I actually do something that is hard, I generally end up looking back upon it fondly as I usually learn from it.

I think it is likely to be something physical though. There definitely was a point in the Alps last September, when I was stuck on a 60° ice slope with only an ice-axe and my own (very limited) physical strength keeping me from falling, when I felt large amounts of extreme petrification and physical pain. That was definitely tricky.

My uncle's death in 2001 was quite hard too. He was the the first, and to date, only very important person in my life who has died. Actually, the run-up to his death was even harder - the death itself was a relief in many ways. This is not one that can be looked back upon fondly - there was nothing to learn from it apart from that life is pretty unfair sometimes. Still, it hardly counts as a personal hard experience - death is simply a fact of life and it would be quite arrogant or me to presume that it was harder for me than anyone else.

The break-up last winter was, I am ashamed to admit, worse in some ways. The misery was more prolonged and I felt a lot more alone. However, with hindsight, I can already see that it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. There's nothing like deep, profound misery to help you get to know yourself pretty well, and now I am really grateful that it happened.

So, hmm, I really don't know. I am vaguely thinking about doing a half marathon next April, work permitting, and I have a feeling that that will be very high up the list. Probably even before I'm at the halfway point of the bloody thing.

Maybe 2009 should be The Year Of Doing Hard Stuff That Might Or Might Not Improve Me As A Person. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?