LESSONS FROM VIETNAM — MARCUS AURELIUS –AND WHERE CHALLENGES BECAME THE WAY

My experience in Vietnam proved Marcus Aurelius’ words, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. Life was not hard because it was wrong. Life was meant to be challenging.”

I found every challenge, setback, and moment of struggle was not blocking our path. It WAS the path. Our muscles grew only when we pushed, stretched, and tested them. The mind was the same. It sharpened only when we tested it and made it work. Character? It didn’t form in comfort. It molded in the heat of adversity, shaped by hardship and misfortune.

The brain strengthened, too, when challenged. Not when it was easy. Those pathways grew strong when we worked through our difficulties and used the outcomes in future endeavors.

So, when life felt unbearable, we didn’t stop. We couldn’t stop. It was when we began. Every challenge became an invitation. An invitation to adapt, to become who we were always meant to be, who we needed to become.

If Vietnam taught me anything, hardship was not the enemy. It was the teacher. And if we embraced it, it would lead us where we were meant to go. It became a mantra helping me through the worst of times. Feeling sorry for our plight represented a useless effort.