Driven by problems
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It’s part of a cycle deeply embedded in all of life. Difficulty gives rise to new achievement.
The more intolerable the burden, the more energy is put forth to overcome it. Lessons learned, abilities developed, resources harnessed continue to provide benefit long after trouble has receded.
The long, magnificent history of achievement is also a history of great challenge. On a personal level, on a worldwide scale, progress is driven by problems.
When times are good, complacency settles in, and eventually lets trouble in the door. When enough people are threatened by that trouble, they rise up and overcome it.
Most of the innovations and technologies you enjoy today had their genesis in pain, difficulty, and inconvenience. Many of the worst problems you’re navigating through right now will lead to valuable advances in days to come.
Certainly life is not always easy, but perhaps that’s a feature and not a bug. Precisely because life is not easy, it finds a way to get better and better.
— Ralph Marston