As a Dungeon Master, I have to wrangle multiple conflicting desires. Players want their characters to be powerful and awesome. They want to deal a lot of damage, cast powerful spells, and make decisions that reshape the world around them. But as a DM, I wan to provide a challenge for my players, so their victories feel satisfying, sometimes narrow, and well-earned. These desires come into conflict in combat scenarios, where the players do their best to destroy every monster I throw at them as quickly and as devastatingly as possible, while I try to keep the monsters alive long enough to use some of their cool abilities and to help the players feel like they've overcome a real challenge. The players try to make their combats easier to the point of effortlessness, and I try to make the combats harder to the point of being challenging. These conflicting desires lead to an interesting dynamic, one that may be mirrored in real life.
I'd like life to be easy. I don't want to face challenges and difficulties. I hate losing, especially when there are real stakes, like eternity. I want to be able to reach the Celestial Kingdom without having to stretch or struggle for it. But that's not how that works. God ensures that life is sufficiently challenging, not just to make my victories more satisfying, but to force me to develop the strength and wisdom I'll need to face my future challenges more successfully. God isn't trying to make sure I have a fun, easy life; He's trying to help me grow. Growth requires challenges. If I'm not truly being challenged, I won't be able to grow.
I'd like life to be easier, but God knows why it has to be difficult, and now, to some extent, so do I.
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