Effort and Destiny: Why Trying Hard Doesn’t Always Mean Success

Effort and Destiny: Why Trying Hard Doesn’t Always Mean Success

As children, we’re told the story of the ugly duckling — mocked and lonely, who eventually becomes a beautiful swan.

The lesson?

“Suffer now. You’ll succeed later.”

But I’ve always found something odd about this.

Wasn’t the ugly duckling always a swan?
Wasn’t it born from a swan’s egg?

Its transformation wasn’t caused by pain.
It simply grew into what it always was.

🎭 Effort ≠ Guaranteed Success

Let me say something that may feel uncomfortable:

Effort does not directly cause success.

You might have heard this before.

But here’s the next layer:

The ugly duckling would have become a swan anyway, even without the hardship.

But — it may have spent its whole life in the duck yard, thinking it was just a big duck.

🔍 The Role of Hardship

Pain changes perception.

If the duckling had never been cast out, it may never have asked the deeper questions:

“Why am I different?”
“Where do I truly belong?”
“What else is out there?”

Some people are destined to be wealthy, brilliant, beautiful.

But without challenges, they may never see themselves clearly, or grow into who they could truly become.

🧭 Taoist Perspective

In Taoism, we say:

“Your life is already shaped.
But how you experience it — is still up to you.”

You may not change what you become.
But you can change how far you see, how wide you travel, and what you value along the way.

Hardship isn’t something to glorify or hate.
It’s just… a sculptor.
It gives your form dimension.

🛌 Final Thought from Wuyu

No — effort won’t always make you rich.
No — effort won’t always make you the person you dream of being.

But it might make you:

• Wiser
• More aware
• More awake to your life

So work hard. But rest when tired.
Be kind to yourself.

And remember — even a swan may think it’s a duck if no one ever tells it otherwise.

—Wuyu