Hardship is an avenue to train your stamina.
The subtle approach the devil uses is to make you cut down on your ambition and settle for less.
Hardship, delayed gratification, discipline builds resilience in us.
Builds total dependence on God.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
You’re not the only one facing a tough time.
You’re not the first neither would you be the last person to face a tough time.
Let the tough time complete it’s process!
Count it all joy!
– Pope
Dangers of a Hedged Life
This is the nature of being, to hedge, to protect, to play safe. Or to think we are playing safe by not playing at all.
Yet in my experience, real opportunities lie in walking away from the sources of your darkness, from what is not working.