Handling Hardship

There is an old saying, “Soft lands make soft people.” In other words, a culture of comfort and prosperity produces a population that cannot handle hardship.

Is it any wonder that younger generations are convinced of the legitimacy of micro-aggression and that they are so easily offended?

When people live in in comfort and prosperity:

• Urgency drops — fewer immediate threats mean less pressure to develop survival skills or resilience.
• Risk tolerance often declines — people have more to lose, so they avoid hardship or conflict.
• Comfort becomes the baseline — what once felt like luxury can start to feel like necessity.

That combination can lead to complacency—especially compared to people raised in harsher conditions.

But there’s an important counterpoint:

People (and societies) tend to become complacent not simply because life is easy—but because they stop deliberately pushing themselves once it becomes easy.

Consider this way of looking at it:

• Hard times build strength
• Easy times test whether strength is maintained voluntarily

Some of the most capable individuals come from comfortable environments—but they intentionally adopt discipline (think rigorous training, entrepreneurship, intellectual work). Others drift into passivity because nothing demands more of them.

So prosperity is less a cause of softness than a fork in the road:

• One path leads to complacency
• The other leads to self-directed excellence

Which path people take depends on culture, values, beliefs and personal choices.

If you can look at yourself honestly, would you say that you are easily offended? Have you had difficulty handling hardship? Have you lost your desire to succeed? Do you give up easily? If you’re wondering whether you have what it takes to succeed, you may want to look up the many resources available to you: books, videos. podcasts, and so on. But, if you’re the kind of person who would rather pursue self-improvement with a helper – such as a life coach or counselor – please feel free to reach out. The phone number is 219-309-3928. 

For more information click Pleasure Isn’t Happiness

Thanks for reading!