Life is difficult is the first sentence of “The Road Less Traveled,” by Scott Peck; 1936–2005. In the first section of “The Road Less Traveled,” which spent an incredible ten years on the New York Times non-fiction best seller list, Peck lays out the 4 tools of (self) discipline that are necessary to personal growth. One of these tools is a dedication to the truth, a willingness to accept and deal with the realities of life including that life is difficult.
As the saying goes, it isn’t that there are problems in life so much as it is that we don’t want or expect there to be problems, so we are not prepared or willing to deal with the problems when they inevitably occur. Many today grow up to one degree or another in sheltered environments where someone is frequently running interference for them. Sooner or later, that protection ceases and we must deal with the glorious chaos that is life.
Unfortunately, there is frequently a lingering unreasonable expectation about how life really works. Some in business have a lot of patience for that; I happen to think it merely fosters learned helplessness and makes the boss a co-faciliator. I cheerfully give a few words of advice and counsel but the bottom line is deal with it. Deal with it constructively, civilly, diplomatically, positively, in a resourced efficient, mission effective manner, but deal with it.
Closing quote:
“I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain sometime
When you take you gotta give so live
And let live and let go oh oh oh oh
I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden.”
— Written by Joe South;1940–1972, recorded by Lynn Anderson in 1970. The song topped the U.S. Billboard chart for 5 weeks.