There is a natural cycle of living things where death or destruction must occur before there is renewed life. Forests renew themselves aggressively each time there is a forest fire. Even without a careless match, lightning strikes cause fires to help forests renew themselves.
Throughout life, we have many examples illustrating the point that without pain and suffering, we are not as resilient nor appreciative of our situations. For those who exercise and work out, they know that in order to gain muscular strength, there needs to be sufficient exertion to cause a 'burn' (muscle destruction) in order to gain new and stronger muscles. My pain is my future gain!
If a goal is too easy, we may not feel it worthwhile, or of much value. We tend to be more careful with possessions if we worked to pay for them than if they were gifted to us. Inherently, we really need to work for what we get. We value more what required sacrifice and effort. Without effort or struggle, we discount the value. We even feel cheated if a goal is too easy.
In marriage, the difficulties that couples face periodically will strengthen their marriage in the long run. The key is to not quit too soon. Therein lies life's challenge, to hold on long enough to get past the difficulties to reap the rewards.
Even in business, we know that there are product life cycles -- a growth phase, a plateau, and then a death phase (when the product sales decline and is replaced by a new one or one from a competitor). Successful companies understand well this life cycle and make plans to minimize the financial impact of the death phase. They anticipate obsolescence with new or renewed products.
Wisdom comes from life's tribulations. For some, maturation comes abruptly (i.e., to learn what is most important in life) when they face death and recover. Life becomes clearer and much simpler. They are better able to ignore trivial matters that once caused them concern and focus on what is most important in life. Someone once said that when life seems most difficult, resolution and success is often just around the next corner. The goal and challenge is to hold on until you reach that corner!
© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com
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