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Challenging, Yet Meaningful Pursuits
“A Surprising Route to the Best Life Possible”
In a recent moment of serendipity, I was browsing The New York Times homepage, and an article caught my eye. “A Surprising Route to the Best Life Possible” was the headline. I am passionate about empowering and enabling individuals and organizations to be inspired and fulfilled, so naturally, I was curious.
What I found was a thought-provoking piece by David Brooks exploring the paradox of hard work. Why do we deliberately choose difficult paths? Why do we willingly endure what Brooks describes as “misery” and “pain”? What compels us to pursue challenging endeavors that often make us uncomfortable?
Brooks offers a compelling insight: “people commit to great projects, they endure hard challenges because they are entranced, enchanted.” They are “seized,” and no amount of challenge will stop their pursuit.
He illustrates this with his own relationship to writing: “I don’t like to write but I want to write….I don’t enjoy it, but I care about it.”
Many of us can identify with that sentiment, that curious contradiction we experience — when things are so hard, and we love every minute of it.
Brooks outlines what he believes is the process (and experience!) that leads to and reinforces these challenging yet…
