Value of the struggle
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Being handed an advantage is not an advantage, not in the long run. Rather than making you strong and innovative, it can make you dependent.
Struggling through a difficult situation, relying on your own wits and efforts, may not be much fun when it is happening. Yet it leaves you smarter, more effective, more confident and adaptable.
Be careful what you wish for yourself, and what you offer to others. Often the most helpful thing is not to bypass the struggle, but to work through it.
Just because someone starts at a disadvantage does not mean that person finishes last. Over time, the experience of dealing with challenge is highly empowering.
Respect yourself enough to seek out meaningful struggles. Respect others enough that you don’t unduly intervene in their own empowering struggles.
Life is filled with struggles, and it is precisely in dealing with those struggles that life is made rich. Seek assistance and give assistance, but not so much that the value of the struggle slips away.
— Ralph Marston