Desirable Difficulty

Comfort is nice. A meaningful struggle is better.

Soon after his country was invaded, President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked how he was doing. His response was striking:

“My life today is wonderful. I believe that I am needed. That’s the most important sense of life: that you are needed—that you are not just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eats something.”

President Zelensky's statement is just as relevant for those of us privileged to experience peace and security. 

We need to be needed. We want to be wanted. We experience a sense of meaning when we are working hard to achieve something that matters. 

Researchers have looked at the importance of "desirable difficulties" in the learning process. 

Using flashcards is often less pleasant than simply reviewing one's notes. Flashcards can reveal how much we don't know. Still, the increased difficulty leads to greater retention. No pain, no gain.

It has been heartbreaking to watch what has happened to the Ukrainian people over the past year. Death and destruction are the furthest things from "desirable."

Still, such situations can also reveal how we desire to commit ourselves to a difficult cause bigger than ourselves. No one wants to be “just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eats something.”