The older I become the more I learn, and that's a good thing. However, some things I learn I really didn't want to learn. I believe its instructional that the fall of the human race occured with the eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As it is quoted, "with much wisdom comes much sorrow." 
But then, I overstate things a bit. Perhaps the best way to explain the concept is to relate the illustration of a tractor pull. Somewhere, way back in my teenage years I attended a county fair. At that fair they featured a tractor pull. The process was fascinating. Grease-monkey gear-heads from all around turned out to display their souped-up horsepower firewagons, and pit them against each other in the tractor pull competition. If you've never seen one yourself, here's how it works: a tractor starts out pulling a heavy drag sled across dirt or gravel. As the sled slides forward, a blade gradually digs deeper and deeper into the ground, thereby increasingly increasing the resistance that must be overcome by the tractor. Eventually, the resistance becomes too much for even the most capable tractor, and the progress is marked in the dirt for all the other competitors to surpass.
I know you've already seen where I'm going with this. When I study history, as is one of my passions, I can almost see each stand-out leader as a tractor pulling against the sled, struggling against opposing forces with all his might. At the end of the leader's life historians mark his spot of forward progress and assess and compare his performance. Not a very inspiring sight, but accurate to a degree, I'm sure. As one ascends the ladder of success, rising higher and higher, responsibility also increases, sometimes even disproportionally (a drag sled out of control). As I've often said, "Leaders often carry an unfair load." Unfair to an average performer, perhaps, but not so the leader. That is because the bright side of the increase of resistance and responsibility is an increase in influence and results. Significance and fulfillment also increase exponentially.
This is where my illustration breaks down a bit. There is no way a tractor struggling along, belching out smoke, straining harder and harder in a futile battle can be a totally accurate picture of leadership because it doesn't illustrate the increasing rewards gained by the leader for his or her efforts. Further, and perhaps most importantly, the leader has the capability to do something along the way that the tractor cannot do: increase their horsepower! While a tractor in a pull shows up for the competition with all it's got and can gain no more, a leader can always grow in the process!
A leader can read, learn from experience, mentor with someone, and grow stronger because of the struggle. This surprising and almost intimidating fact is extremely inspirational. Truly, there is no defeating a leader who is committed. No matter what happens, what failure, setbacks, or obstacles confront them, they continue to morph into something bigger, better, and stronger than they were before. To be certain, this type of development is only accomplished by the rarest type of person. But then again, leadership at that level is uncommon, commitment of that magnitude is unusual. It's available to everyone, but exhibited by only a few. This is why leaders are such interesting people and why their stories are so popular. There is something in the human spirit that loves achievement, overcoming of obstacles, and beating the long odds.
Every time a leader overcomes challenges and rises to fight again she is stepping closer to fulfilling her destiny and maximizing her potential. The key is to improve and grow faster than the resistance increases. If not, the leader's progress peaks right at that level. The track officials might as well mark it in the sand because the pull is over.
So each of us should make sure we are doing everything we can to grow in and through the process of struggling upward toward our destinies. Remember, we can't take our same old self into a bright new future, if we did, we would simply darken it! Instead, we need to be made better and stronger through the resistance so that we can handle the higher level as well as the rewards. Why? Because we are tractors, and tractors were built to pull.
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