"Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body."
-Seneca
In essence, what Seneca tells us is that a life of leisure and ease leaves us weaker than one of challenge and struggle. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes. We grow stronger with every weight we lift. Each time we attempt a new skill, we grow more proficient.
To shy away from that which causes us discomfort or pain is to rob ourselves of a chance for growth.
Do not the bones of a growing child ache as they mature?
Everyone has done something that made them nervous or uncomfortable, something that they once feared to do on some level or another. Riding a bike, backing a cake, playing poker for pennies, joining a debate club, learning Suduko, mastering a second language. Even if we never kept our balance on the bicycle, won a debate, or learned more than "where is the restroom" in a foreign tongue, we have all challenged ourselves with something once difficult, and we have all grown from it. Even as children, still learning to read and write, or teenagers taking their first lesson behind the wheel of a car.
That challenge motivated us to add to our beings, to see things in new light, visit new places, try new things, and engage with new people and ideas.
When we refuse to meet the challenges of life, we deprive ourselves of living it.
Stand firm in the face of adversity, and remember that each obstacle if but an opportunity to grow.
Be well, friends.
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27 Jul 2025 16:30 CEST
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