“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
–Frank A. Clark
Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, M.D., began his monumental book, The Road Less Traveled, with a three-word sentence, “Life is difficult.” That book has sold more than six million copies in North America alone, and it has been translated into over 20 languages. Personally, I consider it one of the best books I have ever read.
The understanding that life is not easy comes naturally to some, but many people cannot easily accept this fundamental truth. They believe that life should be easy, and continuously search for a path with no obstacles. There are no pathways through life that do not have obstacles, and those people who mistakenly believe they have found such a path soon realize that it does not lead anywhere.
True accomplishment requires hard work and perseverance, but it has its rewards. Generally, the more difficult the challenge, the greater the reward. Let’s look at an example. As young people make their way through high school, they begin to focus on potential future careers. As they examine alternative pathways, they discover that the career fields that have the most attractive potential rewards also have the most obstacles. What many young people want is a shortcut that will enable them to get into a rewarding career without overcoming all the obstacles in the pathway. Such shortcuts usually do not exist.
Today, it is almost impossible to have a successful career in any field without some additional education beyond high school. A two-year degree from a community college opens up many opportunities that are not available to those with only a high school education. A four-year college degree opens up still more opportunities. But the pathway to some of the most attractive positions requires years of additional study. Medical doctors often spend up to eight more years in school after they receive their first college degree.
The same principle applies to the artistic fields. A masterpiece is not created during the early years of an artist’s career. Most artists turn out their best work after years of toiling. Hard work and perseverance do not guarantee success in any field, but there is almost no possibility of attaining great success without these important attributes.
Life is not supposed to be easy. God gives us talents and opportunities, but He expects us to work hard to make the most of them. If we are not willing to do the hard work required for a rewarding life and deal with obstacles along a difficult road, we have an alternative. Just like a river that follows the course of least resistance, we can bypass many of the obstacles in life by taking detours whenever we face barriers that we don’t want to try to overcome. But if we do, we will deny ourselves the pleasures that come from trying to overcome most of the barriers that we encounter in life.
Think about it.
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Copyright 2025
Allen W. Smith
