How Hardships Make the Warrior
The following chapter is from Word Play: 101 Short Stories, Essays, and Insights to Improve Communication Skills
Look through the timeline.
‘Which timeline?’
Let’s go with Facebook.
Something about Facebook brings out people’s bad sides.
It makes people who are pleasant in the real world come off as cringe in the online world.
While some thrive in the online space.
There are others who whine away.
Have you ever scrolled through your timeline & saw old high school friends whining away?
They whine about politics, their day-to-day problems & why the world is so unfair.
But you know what really seems to irk them?
Privileged people.
These old friends genuinely hate that some people were born into a privileged life.
They hate the fact that these people had their school paid for, never had to get a job & everything was handed to them!
‘Well Armani, aren’t you a little bit annoyed as well?’
No.
Quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck.
I’m too busy focusing on my goals to worry about what is going on in someone else’s life.
But if you really want my opinion, I feel sorry for those privileged people.
I knew a kid who was 22 years old & never had a job.
His name was Anil.
Anil was so well-connected that he cheated his entire way through the engineering program.
He relied on his privileged connects to skate on by.
At the time, I was pissed.
I was studying my ass off every night in the library until 4 am, and this cheater was getting a free ride?
Well, that wasn’t fair!!
Fast forward 5 years.
As time went on by, Anil and I connected on Facebook.
I asked him how his life was going.
He said he was struggling with depression.
He had gotten fired from his 3rd job in the past 2 years!
The last job he got fired from was so bad that his manager gave him an exam to test whether he faked his degree or not.
Anil was struggling with some serious self-confidence issues.
His entire life, everything had been so easy.
In many ways, life was pretty much set up for him to succeed.
So, what gives?
Why was he going through such a difficult time?
It’s because he cheated the process.
And when you cheat the process now, it comes to haunt you later.
Which is why I have always felt sorry for privileged people.
They are not remotely battle-tested for the real world.
Look a little closer at your friend circle.
Did you notice the ones who have been through dark moments are the ones who tend to keep stronger composure & think more creatively?
They weren’t just born like that.
They were exercised into it.
The process is measured by the number of hardships conquered.
To the outside world, the results matter more than the process.
To the inside world, the process should matter more than the results.
Life Irony:
When you focus on the process over the results, the results will come.
And you will grow into a stronger person along the way.
If you are going through a tough time right now & find yourself comparing yourself to others, then I encourage you to stop.
Don’t whine about how privileged someone is.
Or how that person is doing better in a certain facet of life than you.
Just focus on your process & keep showing up & showing out.
Your time is coming.
Each hardship conquered battle tests the warrior.
A battle tested warrior cultivates mental toughness.
Mental toughness leads to confidence.
Anil showed me what happens when someone takes the easy route.
Temptations, temptations, temptations.
Path 1
Short term pleasure for long term pain = Comfort zone.
Path 2
Short term pain for long term pleasure= Growth mode.
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