"This earthly life is a battle," said Ma. "If it isn't one thing to contend with, it's another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and more thankful for your pleasures."

Some friends were sharing quotes that meant a great deal to them.  I keep revisiting this one.  I am so grateful to have grown up in an era where this sort of wisdom was still circulating.  It was never meant to imply that we should not approach problem solving vigorously, simply that, once solved, new challenges inevitably appear.  That doesn't indicate anything is uniquely amiss.  As Ma says, it always has been so.  Blessed Herman the Cripple called our earthly world a 'vale of tears.'  This has always been a tough place to live. It is also breathtakingly beautiful.