September 4th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - "How Can You Know Whether You've never Been Tested?"

"I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent - no one can ever know what you're capable of, not even you."
~ Seneca, On Providence, 4.3

Small comfort to the man in the arena, but we do, in fact, need challenges to meet our potential. One may perhaps be forgiven for wishing one were challenged a little less, or a little differently, but not for wishing there were no challenges. Still, wishing doesn't change things, and the Sage would not wish to change the challenges.