Kennedy's genius here isn't celebrating difficulty for its own sake—it's recognizing that *worthiness itself* emerges from resistance. A goal that costs nothing, that slides down the natural slope of human inclination, tells us nothing about our capacities or values. When you choose the harder path in your own life—whether that's apologizing to someone you've hurt, learning a skill that humbles you repeatedly, or staying in a difficult conversation—you're doing what Kennedy understood: that the struggle itself becomes the proof of commitment. Easy victories feel hollow because they demand nothing of us; they leave us unchanged.