We Know Who We Are in Struggle—But Who Are We in Success?

They say hard times build character, but what if the real test is who you become when things go right?

Whether the temptation is struggle or seduction, suffering or success, the test is always the same: Will you trust your inner life?

Will you let the outside world dictate your path, or will you move from the inside out, anchored in something deeper than circumstance?

People love to frame spiritual growth as a battle between light and dark, good and bad. But the real battle? It’s between external validation and internal alignment.

Whether it’s the devil tempting you into despair—whispering that you’re not enough, that you need to prove your worth through hardship—or that same voice dressed in white linen, offering you a golden cup filled with success, status, and fleeting pleasure—it’s still asking the same question…

Who are you when no one is watching?

Because both paths—suffering and excess—can lead you away from yourself if you’re not careful. Suffering can make you feel like you have to earn your enlightenment.

That growth is only legitimate if it comes with scars.

On the other hand, blind pursuit of ease and pleasure can distract you from the depth of your inner life, keeping you chasing the next high instead of truly inhabiting your being.

But when you live your life as holy—when you make every experience sacred—you don’t have to be yanked between suffering and indulgence like some spiritual pendulum. You can recognize that the real invitation is always the same: Go deeper. Not deeper into struggle, not deeper into external rewards, but deeper into yourself.

To live from the inside out means knowing that whether life is testing you with hardship or dazzling you with success, nothing outside of you is the source. It all flows from within. When you stand firm in that, you don’t have to reject the good or glorify the struggle—you simply are. Rooted. Whole. Aligned.

That’s the real path. Not one that swings between extremes, but one that moves in steady, unwavering devotion to what’s true inside you.

So let me ask you: When do you do the deepest work—when you’re struggling or when things are good?