“Seneca would say that he actually pitied people who have never experienced challenges. ‘You have passed through life without an opponent,’ he said, ‘No one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.’ Epictetus said when a challenge is put in front of you, think of yourself as an athlete getting paired with a tough competitor. You want to be Olympic-class? ‘This is going to take some sweat to accomplish,’ he said.”
Ryan Holiday
Difficulty Quotes
“Don’t judge the moment. As soon as you label something as bad, your mind starts to believe it. Instead, be grateful for setbacks. Allow the journey of life to progress at its own pace and in its own roundabout way. The universe may have other plans in store for you.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 212)
“Those strong winds that hit hard are not really enemies. They help to integrate you. They look as if they will uproot you, but in fighting with them you become rooted.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 70)
“Life is full of difficult times. But someone out there always has it worse than you do. If you fill your days with pity, sorrowful for the way you have been treated, bemoaning your lot in life, blaming your circumstances on someone or something else, then life will be long and hard. If, on the other hand, you refuse to give up on your dreams, stand tall and strong against the odds—then life will be what you make it—and you can make it great.”
William A. McRaven, Make Your Bed (Page 103) | ★ Featured on this book list.
“You come from a long, unbroken line of ancestors who survived unimaginable adversity, difficulty, and struggle. It’s their genes and their blood that run through your body right now. Without them, you wouldn’t be here. You’re an heir to an impressive tradition—and as their viable offspring, you’re capable of what they are capable of. You’re meant for this. Bred for it.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 170)
Meaning of the Quote: “Where There’s Hardship, There’s Ease”
“Where there’s hardship, there’s ease.”
Quran
Beyond the Quote (Day 378)
At first glance, this statement seems like a contradiction. Where there’s hardship—tension, angst, and unease, seem to be the more appropriate pairings, wouldn’t you think? And while, yes, those tend to be the default feelings in response to hardship, they certainly aren’t the mandatory responses. In fact, there are no mandatory responses to any situation in life. It’s one of the few things that is actually 100% within our control—how we choose to respond to given situations. This becomes increasingly evident when you see someone masterfully navigate hard situations with ease and grace.
Read More »Meaning of the Quote: “Where There’s Hardship, There’s Ease”“Bliss is a beautiful destination, but you can often only reach its shores after a turning point. It’s as if the universe is testing you to be sure you are strong enough to make it through the murky waters, not just the serene ones, so that you can move to a new and unknown place in yourself.”
Alicia Keys, More Myself (Page 140)
“If it were easy then everyone else would find it easy as well. Which would make it awfully difficult to do important work, work that stands out, work that people would go out of their way to find. When difficulties arise, it might very well be good news. Because those difficulties may dissuade all the people who aren’t as dedicated as you are. It pays to seek out the hard parts.”
Seth Godin, Blog
“Illness is not the problem. You are the problem—as long as the egoic mind is in control. When you are ill or disabled, do not feel that you have failed in some way, do not feel guilty. Do not blame life for treating you unfairly, but do not blame yourself either. All that is resistance. If you have a major illness, use it for enlightenment. Anything ‘bad’ that happens in your life—use it for enlightenment. Withdraw time from the illness. Do not give it any past or future. Let it force you into intense present-moment awareness—and see what happens. Become an alchemist. Transmute base metal into gold, suffering into consciousness, disaster into enlightenment.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 218)
Richard Carlson Quote on Blowing Things Out of Proportion
“We forget that life isn’t as bad as we’re making it out to be. We also forget that when we’re blowing things out of proportion, we are the ones doing the blowing.”
Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Beyond the Quote (108/365)
The powerful thing about perspective is that it has the ability to change how we see. And if how we see changes, well, everything in the world will look different. In life, many of us disproportionately view our world as larger than it is—we blow it out of proportion. Why? Because from our perspective, our world is the world. The size of our perception of life is the size of our understanding of the world. And when we hyper focus on the trivialities of our life in comparison to all that’s happening in life throughout the world? Those trivialities can start to look much bigger than they really are.
Read More »Richard Carlson Quote on Blowing Things Out of Proportion
