Ski hills rate their runs based on their difficulty level. The beginner slopes are known as bunny hills and are represented on trail maps as green circles. These are family friendly, gentle slopes that are easy to get down. The next level is the blue square or intermediate slope. Terrain is a bit steeper. These trails may include a few trees or some small bumps. Black diamonds represent expert terrain. These are steep slopes offering greater challenge. Depending on the resort, there may even be double black diamond or triple black diamonds for Experts Only. The run classification offers guidance to skiers to determine where they want to go. Do they want to challenge themselves or steer clear of danger? The mark of skill is based on what runs one can conquer. The increased difficulty is seen as a challenge to overcome. Skiing tougher terrain is a desirable difficulty. Yes, I want to test myself against the mountain. Succeeding on the steep slope builds confidence. The magnet of the mountain is to move to the more difficult terrain.
Importantly, a strength of your apres-ski story flows from where on the mountain it occurred. Stories involving steep and treacherous terrain afford the teller greater street cred than those that occur on the beginner slopes. As Epictetus noted, “It is difficulties that show what men are.” Seneca put it differently noting, “Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” The Greeks saw struggle as something worthwhile. They referred to it as the agon. They encouraged each other to lean into it. Having an agon against which to wrestle was the way to have better Apres ski tales. Advancing in the face of adversity toughens us. The only way to build muscle, after all, is through the hard work of moving metal. Napoleon Hill wrote, “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”
We don’t get the thrill of victory without exposing ourselves to the agony of defeat. No one gets through life undefeated. Extreme stakes make sport exciting. The stress of success lies on the knife’s edge between daring and disaster. It’s this balance we’re seeking to master.
Author Og Mandino noted, “Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrows good luck.” It is through discomfort that we develop. It is by enduring that we find excellence. There is a price to pay for gain in any domain, and it usually involves some sort of pain. That’s the game. George Sheehan wrote, “The worst-tasting medicine always works best.” If it’s easy, it’s likely ineffective. There are no shortcuts. The long way is the quickest.
Seneca also gave us, “The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.” Luck is for losers. Wishing is for the weak. Jim Rohn is credited with the quote, “Don’t wish for things to be easy, wish you were better.” Winners want to work. The successful embrace struggle and sacrifice as two things that are necessary and nice. In a blog post Seth Godin writes, “If your plan, your idea or your art doesn’t involve any significant hurdles in moving forward, it’s probably not worth that much. If it were easy, everyone would do it. The tactic is to seek a path where you see and understand the significant hurdles that kept others away. And then dance with them. They’re not the problem, they’re a feature.” Just like the trail map symbols at ski hills represent various levels of difficulty, the difficulty is not the problem, it’s the feature. We aspire to and chase the tougher terrain.
There aren’t many blockbuster movies with characters lying on the couch sipping a soda and winning the lotto. Few of us would sit through a couple hours of watching the lethargic loaf through a life of leisure. Though pleasant to occasionally experience firsthand, it doesn’t make for compelling viewing. Three thousand years ago, a Greek historian, Herodotus, pointed out, “Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.” Our heroes in movies are overcoming one difficulty after another. As Seneca suggested, “The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.” Where we accomplish something without struggle, the “thrill” of winning is less. The legendary US General, George Patton encouraged, “Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”
The stories we seek are those of the underdog overcoming obstacle after obstacle. We feel the pain of their setbacks. We urge them to continue getting up after every knockdown. We share their sentiment when they feel the thrill of winning. Characters that are compelling in cinema are those adhering to the trajectory of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. Our heroes must do something heroic. They confront a challenge. They battle against nefarious forces. They rescue someone. They save something. They risk. They face danger. They do so while scared. The wisdom of Confucius gives us, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Said similarly, Helen Keller offered, “A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.” In essence, we only become hardy by doing things that are hard.
US President Teddy Roosevelt had anything but an easy life. He had health issues as a child. As a young adult, he lost his first wife and mother on a single day. He suffered more than his fair share of hardship. Nonetheless, he recognized that through difficulty would be how he could develop. He embraced the idea of “the strenuous life.” Physical effort was worthwhile as it built strength and stamina. Burdens weren’t to be avoided but to be viewed as beneficial. The goal became to live a life by testing personal limits. Challenges forged character and led to a life that was fulfilling. Roosevelt eschewed easy and embraced effort. Another Roosevelt, first lady Eleanor, suggested, “Most of us are like teabags, we don’t know how strong we are until we’re in hot water.” Oftentimes, when life makes demands of us is when we rise to the occasion and find levels of functioning we ourselves didn’t even realize we had.
Maybe there’s stages of Adversity similar to the “stages of grief” idea?
First, we see adversity as something to avoid. As children or where we’re weak, we naturally seek to Avoid. We want to steer clear of problems. We gravitate to the green runs and seek to stay safe.
As we develop maturity, we learn that problems are perpetual. Life is a series of speedbumps. Adversity can’t be avoided. We come to Accept adversity seeing it neutrally. We should accept it, learn to dust ourselves off when we encounter it, and act in ways that serve not stifle our development. We may gradually seek out slightly tougher terrain. Now, we’re exploring our blue square, intermediate terrain.
Perhaps, we’re lucky enough to, in time, come to Appreciate adversity. We learn that adversity is the source of growth. It’s where we learn the most about ourselves and how we develop. We see difficulties as desirable. We recognize that progress lies on the other side of pain or problem. Taking our chances on the tougher terrain of black diamonds becomes something not to fear but to pursue.
The British conservative thinker G.K. Chesterton offered in his classic wit, “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.” Problems, hiccups, and inconveniences are only such if we think of them as such. We can work to interpret inevitable obstacles as not just part of the journey but the source of our strength, character, and identity: agon as adventure, agon as fun. Appreciating adversity and even advancing towards it begins with interpreting it as an adventure.
Finally, a few of us may even learn to Advance towards adversity. Adversity becomes attractive to those agreeing with the words of John Maxwell, “Everything worthwhile is uphill.” Now, we’re proactively pursuing the toughest terrain with vigor. We recognize that our efforts become the content of our après ski stories.
The four stages of adversity: Avoid, Accept, Appreciate, and Advance. In time we can strive to embody the words of a verse from Romans 5.3, “Rejoice in your tribulations.”
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