Push 'um till they fall

Have you ever seen a child lose their grip while climbing? Even if they are aware that you are right there to catch them, they instantly starting crying, screaming, or the like. This reaction stems from fear: fear of falling, fear of getting hurt, fear of not being caught, or fear of the unknown peril that awaits. We all share this reaction into adulthood. Of course this may seem to belabor the obvious, but if you believe, as I do, that there is always someone there to catch you, then why the impulsive and automatic response? Because it is a natural response to potential harm. We are conditioned to brace before blunder; this basic instinct benefits mankind (most of the time). If we didn't clench and prepare for the worst or scream for help, our physicality may endure more harm as a result. Thus, it's an adventageous reaction when it protects your body, but when it hinders your spirit from facing fear, it loses its value.
I'm under the assumption (albeit true or false) that people don't want to be victim to worthless thoughts, wasted time, or unwanted distractions from what they deem truly valuable. But since we all value various aspects of our culture, theres not one avenue that we will all agree to pursue. Instead, we must be pushed, literally, to fall in order to escape the opposing paths that falsely blind us. There is an increasing number of remedies to escape anxiety, health problems, poverty, or moral decay. Likewise, there are numerous cultural norms fighting for our attention. All the while, people have become more and more jaded by the "rules of religion," yet I would argue the "rules of the world," not true faith, holds us all in captivity. Eat this, watch that, take this many steps, sleep this many hours, DIY this way, invest here, buy there. It's exhausting and causing so much unneeded anxiety for so many men and women.
However, when we actually ask God, the creator and sustainer of simple joy to rid us of all unnecessary preoccupations, we must be willing to fall into the unknown and even scrap up our knees along the way. Don't confuse SIMPLISTIC living with EASY living. Simplicity requires simple, hard steps. We must be open to endure the hard in order to achieve the long-lasting results of letting go of our instincts, because not all instincts are beneficial. But we can't get there on our own designed recipe, our innate self-preservation will cause us to scream for help.
When God has handed me something hard, it's only when I've embraced it instead of avoiding it that I've been able to recalibrate my attention correctly. This is what James meant when he said "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, LACKING NOTHING" (James 1:2-4).
Even though I do not like seeing my boys endure any hardship, I must sit back and let their trial rid them of falsehood and fear so that they lack nothing in their future. It's the temporary hard for the eternal joy.