there are no challenges so difficult, no goals so impossible, as the ones we set for ourselves

I disagree with the statement that the most difficult challenges people face are those that everybody creates for themselves. The assertion is not true, or at least not always, as I intend to show below. There may be instances where people set difficult objectives for themselves, but very often people simply have to try to address challenges they did not creat, and survive or make the best of situations they have been put into by accident such as geopraphy, history, or ethnic and racial background. There are excemptions, but htey are just that, exceptions not the norm. Often, especially for those coming from countries that are not dominating the world stage, succeeding in life, or simply making ends meet are major challenges, and not because those who face these challenges, want to be in such situation. My Parents grew up at a time when their country was undergoing major social and political transformation. World waa II had just ended by the my father was twelve years old, the economy was in bad statues, andthe nazi occupiers had been driven them out from the country so the Red Army can take over. My grandfather was forced to give his little land during th process of occupation, his small store was eentally stolen by thieves as well, and the couple horses he had, along with thousands od horses throughout the countr, were taken away to make room for the tractors, the country was beginning to manufacture. By the time my father was drafted into the military talk of world war II was every where, and the hysteria gave away only a couples of decades later. My father had to lie low all his life and not say a wold a gainst a regime that did not tolerate dissent. The kids success i school meant they could get by within or without the messed up system the country was under. In my grandfather’s words. It was important to study, because “no one can take away from you what you know”. I have a lson seen in this country insurance where people’s lives are made difficult by those in power. it is often assumed that everybody in this country shares a certain standard of living, although evidence contradicts that assumption. For many, simple geeting by is a major success, not because they love struggling to make ends meet, but because they do not have a choice. When hurricane Katrina made landfall last August, the majority of the residence of new Orleans had evacuated the city. Many had not, though: some of their own free will, others because they simply did not have the means of travel. Later on, when large portions of the city were under water, some residents tried to cross one of the bridges from New Orelans to the West bank of the Mississippi River, but were received by police shooting in the air to scare them away. The City across the river apparently did not want “the problem” of the city of New Orelans. Certainly there are instance where people set high goals for themselvesand some succeed in attaining those goals, while many fail. I have all the respect for the former, but I think focusing on the few exception we may miss the big picture. Succeeding in spite of all odds, being a “self-made man” going “ from rags on riches” are powerful myths in this country. I’m not denying the effort and successes of the rockefellers, carnegies, or more recently the Trumps. I do think, nonetheles, that for every person who makes it in spite of all or most odds, there are many more who do not: for every college dropout who succeeds in life, such as Bill Gates, there are thousands who will struggle through life. People often set hard to reach objectives and they may fail or succeed in oursing those objective. I do think, though, that for many, the most difficult challenges come from outside the individual, from their position in the social hierarchy, or the time and place where they are porn and try to get by.