Paradoxically, the struggle is what keeps you “alive.” The struggle is precisely what makes you a better version of you. You may not like it; you may hate it, but the struggle is how you grow.
Coal needs pressure to turn into a diamond.
I’m sure you’ve heard the line:
“Calm seas never made a good sailor.”
What about the butterfly? There are many versions of the story, but the principle is the same:
A young man is walking through the woods on bright spring day. He’s as happy as can be, whistling as he walks. He finds his favorite spot just over the hill from his house, out of sight. There’s a small stream that runs through his favorite spot and he stops here to eat the lunch he packed. Delicious peanut butter and jelly (with extra peanut butter).
As he’s licking the peanut butter from his fingers, he notices a chrysalis hanging from a nearby branch, and it looks like it’s moving. He wipes the peanut butter on his jeans and moves in for a closer look. It is moving!
The boy watches closely for a few minutes. The chrysalis is definitely moving now. No question about it. His legs start to ache a little, so he sits down on the warm sunny grass. The chrysalis is moving plenty, but there’s no sign of the butterfly. Starting to get fidgety and impatient, the boy gets an idea. He carefully removes the chrysalis from the branch and heads home.
When he puts the chrysalis on the table, he’s excited to see a tiny hole in the side of it, and a little leg working its way in and out of the hole. It’s happening. The boy grabs a chair and waits. He stares for what seems like hours, afraid to miss anything, but the hole isn’t getting much bigger. His butt falls asleep in the chair as he’s watching and still, the hole has only grown a little. That’s when he gets another stroke of “genius.”
He races to the garage and grabs a sharp knife. He returns to the table and the chrysalis and ever so carefully, makes the hole a little bigger. Careful not to harm the little wriggling thing inside. He watches again but grows impatient as the poor little butterfly is struggling and struggling and making so little progress. He makes the hole a little bigger and this time gently peel back the chrysalis to help the tiny creature.
Moments later out pops a swollen wretched looking thing with what looks like wings plastered to its body. It crawls round the table as the boy wonders what’s the story with this butterfly. It’s all misshaped and its wings… well they aren’t really wings.
He turns his head as he becomes aware of his father standing over him. He tells the story to his dad (downplaying his impatience and emphasizing his desire to help the poor little creature, of course).
The boy’s father knew exactly what had happened. He’d seen the story repeated thousands of times in his life. The butterfly NEEDED the struggle. The struggle is what pushes the fluid from its body into its wings before they dry out and form their shape. Without the struggle, there are no wings.
The struggle sucks, but it makes you who you are.
One of my mentors, Jim Rohn, use to say, “Become a millionaire not for the million dollars, but for what it will make of you to achieve it.” You see, to make a million dollars, there are a lot of things you have to learn. A lot of relationships you have to build. To make a million dollars, you have to become MORE.
That goes for any worthwhile achievement. Graduating from PA school included. Don’t go to school for the piece of paper, that’s silly. Go to school for what you’ll learn and who you’ll be when you graduate. Otherwise you could spend that same time digging ditches. Ditch-diggers don’t have loans.
Embrace the struggle, don’t moan and groan about it.
People complain about the PANCE, but it’s the struggle that builds you. Without it, would you work as hard? Would you be who you will be? Of course not. No way.
Let me show you what I mean. Why not use this opportunity to grow? In the April issue of Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter, I’m going to help you grow. I’m not going to open the chrysalis and take away the struggle (that would be detrimental), but I am going to teach you something you just might not capture on your own.
I’m going to teach you how to answer PANCE questions. I’m going to walk you through how to dissect them and get down the meat of the matter. I’m going to arm you with tools for the struggle. A map, if you will. I said you should struggle, but I didn’t say you should go fight the dragon with a toothpick.
Get your copy here and arm yourself for the struggle:
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace