Some of the greatest men and women were born and/or raised under difficult circumstances. Those whose itch is more difficult to reach, scratch harder. Booker T. Washington coined the phrase, “The advantages of disadvantages.” He felt that having been born a slave and being deprived of the right to a formal education drove his ambition to gain the very best education possible. His circumstance is not an isolated case. Many who are born in poverty know that the only way to a better life is to struggle, like a drowning man trying to reach air. Their plan to succeed may include finding a way to obtain an education or by just plain, but difficult, hard work and ingenuity.
Those born to wealth and comfort may feel that there is no need to struggle because everything they want they may possibly have just for the asking. Emerson said, “Whilst [man] sits on the cushion of advantage, he goes to sleep. When he is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something…” Whether born to privilege or born in poverty, any greatness achieved by man or woman is usually a result of a discipline they have subjected themselves to.
Regardless of our circumstances, we are all God’s children placed here for a very important purpose, whether we are aware of it or not. We are here to learn and progress in a mortal world created by a loving Heavenly Father. The atmosphere, the elements in the earth that nourish and sustain us, the materials we use for warmth and shelter, are not here by accident. “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.” (2 Nephi 2:27)
In Abraham 3:25 we read; “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;” He has commanded us to be fruitful and replenish the earth, to eat our bread by the sweat of our brow, to remember Him and pray to Him, asking for whatsoever things we need. All of the above are designed to help us grow physically, spiritually, socially and intellectually and to prove ourselves. “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” (Galatians 6:4) We can’t please God, nor ourselves, by what another does, only by what we, ourselves, do. It may well be that what we do, we do in conjunction with others, but we must pull our own weight to prove ourselves and then we can truly rejoice in our accomplishments. There is no greater joy than to know we are doing something or have done something good and of value for ourselves, our family and for others. When we feel that joy, somehow we know in our hearts that we have pleased God as well. For man, leisure should be, a once-in-a-while retreat, and never an ongoing or permanent condition. “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;” Sometimes, to be faithful in all of the above, it is an advantage to be disadvantaged. (D&C 58:27)