The Art of Happiness

ways of dealing with them—that ultimately resultsin true growth, insight, and a successfulpsychotherapeutic outcome.Imagine what it would be like if we wentthrough life never encountering an enemy or anyother obstacles for that matter, if from the cradleto the grave everyone we met pampered us, heldus, hand-fed us (soft bland food, easy to digest),amused us with funny faces and the occasional“goo-goo” noise. If from infancy we were carriedaround in a basket (later on, perhaps on a litter),never encountering any challenge, never tested—in short, if everyone continued to treat us like ababy. That might sound good at first. For the firstfew months of life it might be appropriate. But if itpersisted it could only result in one becoming asort of gelatinous mass, a monstrosity really—with the mental and emotional development of