There must be REAL risk, hardship, and sacrifice to obtain any meaningful reward in life. This is the message of the Gospel story of the widow's mites.
"Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
When you really risk loss and ruin, then real reward becomes possible. It is MEANT to be hard to do. Just as (and you knew this was coming) bodybuilding exercises are hard to do. They are MEANT to be hard. There is SUPPOSED to be sacrifice!
If I could only keep this in mind, what a happy man I would be.
