Get Hard!

Henry browsed through the titles lined up on the shelf in front of him. He furrowed his brow as he read each title of the books on the shelf, wondering which one would serve his purpose.

It was the beginning of January, just after the new year, and Henry Greenford had decided that he wanted to make a massive change in his life. Twenty-nine-year-old Henry Greenford was an unemployed, single, and overweight man who lived with his parents. Whilst the above mentioned caused him great depression, Henry’s biggest concern was his anxiety. You see, Henry was unemployed and single by choice. He was too afraid to get out and work. He was afraid of socialising or leaving the house. In fact, coming to this bookstore caused him great discomfort.

Henry hated that he had been living off his parents this long when his father should have been retired a long time ago. His parents had spent years trying to help him. They had sent him to therapy, asked friends to help him find work, and even tried to set up with the daughters of people they knew. But Henry had flat out refused any of the job opportunities, and the girls who he got set up with didn’t seem to take to him. Henry had tried many times to try and lose some weight and become healthy. Every time he started; however, he would quit within a month. He knew that his parents were worried about him, his mother especially. Henry’s mum had made several attempts to talk to him about his life and health. She spent her days worrying that he would die early due to his unhealthy lifestyle and lack of motivation to get up and do anything. These discussions usually ended up with Henry in tears. He knew he was a disappointment to his parents and to himself.  To make matters worse, he always felt inferior to his older brother, Ben.

 Henry was three years younger than Ben, who always seemed to have it all. Ben was always the most popular boy in their high school, he had countless girlfriends and a massive social circle. Today, Ben was a senior partner of a successful law firm, married to a gorgeous woman, and the father of two beautiful little girls. He was clearly the apple of their parents’ eyes, Henry always thought. Ben had made attempts to help Henry as well. Ben had many contacts in the corporate world and used them to help Henry get a foot in the door, but again Henry refused to take any of the opportunities. While Henry envied his brother, he also loved him very much. He knew that Ben was just as worried about him as their parents were, although that did not make him feel better. It only served to make him feel worse about himself. The closest Henry had ever been to having a girlfriend was when he was set up with Ben’s wife’s cousin, Vivian. They had both seemed to like each other but Vivian had cut away from him after he refused one too many job opportunities. He couldn’t blame her, no woman wants to be with a bum who lives off his parents. The experience had hurt him quite badly. That was September last year. That experience was one of the main reasons why he was in this book store today.

Henry had always blamed his anxiety on the way that his life had turned out. But not this year. This year would be different because he wanted to change. He wanted to be loved by someone, he wanted to earn his own money and become someone in life, and he wanted his parents to say just once “We’re proud of you”.

Yes, this would be his year and the first step would be finding a book that would help him and motivate him to achieve all that he desired. Finding the perfect book proved to be more difficult than Henry had anticipated, however. There were many titles that would serve his purpose, yet as he read through the synopses of each book, he felt that none of these would really motivate him enough.

Suddenly, Henry spotted a title on the lower-left corner of the shelf. It read “Get Hard!” by Alan Borwick. Curious, Henry picked the book up from the shelf and read through the synopsis. Henry’s eyes opened wide in amazement. This was it, he thought, this was exactly was he was looking for. It was as though this book was designed and written specifically for him. “Get Hard!” was a book written for people who suffer from anxiety disorders and are too afraid to live their lives or achieve their goals. It was a book that explained that the world isn’t going to feel sorry for you or give you anything just because you’re too afraid to go out there and live your best life.

You, as an individual, must take your life into your own hands and force yourself into doing the things you want to do but won’t because your anxiety is holding you back. The book explained that instead of using anxiety as an excuse to live an unfulfilling life, take small steps toward your goals no matter how terrifying it may be.

After reading the first few pages of the book, Henry read the bottom of the cover and read the slogan out loud: “GET HARD! GET GOING! GET TO LIVING!”

Henry smiled to himself as he tucked the book under his arm and walked toward the cashier. She was a beautiful young woman with flowing raven hair and bright green eyes. She gave him a warm smile as he approached her, and he couldn’t help but blush a little. Henry felt amazed that picking up a book like this could make him feel so good. He hadn’t felt this way in over a decade.

Henry walked out of the bookstore with the book in his hand and took in a breath “This is going to be my year!”