#davesdailychallenge (139): The Trial By Fire. This is a concept deeply ingrained into the DNA of mankind. I believe strongly that we, as a people, seek challenge. It is not in our nature to constantly be at ease. Ease breeds complacency. Complacency breeds laziness and a lack of purpose and is there anything really worse than a lack of purpose? I heard the author Seth Godin say recently that “the lessons we remember are the lessons we learn the hard way”. I would take that one step further, or maybe sideways, to say that the lessons we remember are the ones we invest the most of ourselves in to learning. We can invest our time, our money, our very heart and soul. These things can often be invested without our permission or even awareness until after it has already happened but those experiences in life which demand the most of us are the ones that make the biggest impact. We value the things that we invest the most heavily in. Our lives are marked by these “trials by fire” throughout our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and well into adulthood. Before we are able to stand and walk we must go through the difficulty of strengthening our limbs to support our weight. We learn about joy and sorrow and love through many of the trials that dot the landscape of our early years. There are few things that sting more than that first heart break but one day you look back and smile from the lessons that it taught you. I say these things to you to preface a few simple questions:

What are the trials by fire that you face in your life? What do you value most of all because of how difficult it was to obtain? What lessons have you learned the hard way? 

If you can’t easily answer this question then what real value are you bringing to your self, your family, your tribe, or your country? Life is too damn short to constantly seek ease. That road leads to nowhere. We are surrounded by worthy trials. It can often be the path of difficult decisions, service to others over self, and a lack of comfort but I promise you this…to walk this path; to not shy away from the trials by fire that mark great leaps forward is to live an inspired life and that is a rare and wonderful thing.