July 8
Without toil, greatness has been granted to no one. Only in the struggle does glory grow, and the contest itself ennobles the one who comes through it.
Victory Odes (freely rendered)
Listening mode
Without toil, greatness has been granted to no one. Only in the struggle does glory grow, and the contest itself ennobles the one who comes through it.
What comes easily to you, you rarely give yourself credit for. Perhaps you are a good listener, or numbers fall into order for you without resistance. When someone praises you for it, you wave it away. After all, it cost you nothing.
With the things you fought for over a long time, it's different. You know the evenings when you got nowhere, and the point at which you almost gave up. For you, that history is part of the thing. Sometimes, because of it, you value the thing more highly than anyone else would.
Both are understandable, and both distort a little. Effort makes something yours, but not necessarily more valuable. Ease, in turn, doesn't prove there is nothing behind it. Often the work simply began earlier, at a time you no longer remember.
It gets tricky when you start to distrust ease. A thought that simply comes to you then seems suspect, and you keep working at it until it feels earned. Sometimes it gets better in the process. Sometimes only heavier.
