one of our goals when we raised our kids is that they would grow up to be tough. Part of the challenge of having a goal like that is you have to define what that means so you know how to make it happen and you can measure progress towards the goal. One part of the description of a tough person is that they don’t whine and complain when trials came into their life. Another aspect of being tough is that they wouldn’t simply endure hard times , but that they would conquer them. That means they would solve problems and fix things, that they would be pro-active. When a trial comes into the life of a tough person they are motivated to do something so that it doesn’t happen again.  Toughness starts with how we habitually think about events and citcumstances that’s come into our life. “Why me”, “Oh no, not again”, and any number of similar thoughts will make us a wimp. Tough people enjoy life because tough times are a challenge, a contest that they are determined to win.