It's rare to meet someone who doesn't want to live a successful life. It's also very rare to find someone who doesn't hope to live an easy life. The reason that so many people are dissatisfied with the life they are living comes from the fact that ease and fulfillment rarely overlap.

There is a reason that Olympic athletes work out with weights- it would be absurd to imagine a competitive athlete who's every workout wasn't demanding. There is also a reason that all of us aren't Olympians. In order to grow, we have to be willing to be uncomfortable. If an athlete wanted to be comfortable, they wouldn't work out.

However, if they wanted to be successful, they would continue to push their body to its limits. We can never move on to greater things if we aren't willing to get through what's in front of us.

We were created for so much more than complacency; if we want to find true fulfillment, we have to experience difficulty. The path of least resistance and the road to success usually run in opposite directions.No one ever got to where they were going by standing still. With that in mind, it's a little counterproductive that we expect to improve our lives by standing still.

The book of James goes as far as to say that we should have JOY when we are pushed to our limits (and especially when we are pushed BEYOND them). Anyone can get by in life doing the bare minimum-- it isn't until we're brave enough to set the bar higher than it hurts to fall.

When we're willing to work to set ourselves apart, suddenly our downfalls become more apparent. Our shortcomings stand out more. Once outside the noise of the crowd, the voices of our critics are so much louder. Life gets harder.

And victory gets sweeter.

Someone much smarter than me recently asked me what came out when you squeezed an orange. Slightly confused, I answered with "orange juice". They then asked what came out when life put me in a squeeze- and this time my answer was a lot less simple. When we are in a situation that seems to press us on every side, it's what is down inside of us that comes out-- and sometimes that's prettier than others.

Conflict provides a unique opportunity for self evaluation.

It also sets the stage for personal growth that just wouldn't be plausible- much less possible- if it was a simple matter of preference. There are some lessons that truly can only be learned through experience. Trials teach us things about ourselves, our peers, and our place in the world on a level that words will never be able to reach.

So maybe it's time that we stopped focusing on the obstacles in our lives and started being thankful for the opportunity to grow. Instead of asking "why is this happening," what if we asked, "what can I learn?"

Growth isn't always comfortable. Sometimes we have to struggle with heavy things in order to get to where we need to be next- sometimes we struggle only to find out that we've made a mistake. The beautiful thing about mistakes though is that we don't have to make them more than once to learn from them.

So while we may have a tendency to associate hard times with being in trouble, let's see them as what they are: a mile marker that we're on the right track. Rather than fixate on what hurts today, let's find ways that we will be better tomorrow. Rather than see shortcomings, let's see our chance to soar. Let's be brave enough to be uncomfortable.