I always love your posts.

And I am tempted to say, Oh, it's just the way you look at it, glass half-full and all that. But I do know what you mean and I have experienced it myself. I remember having this belief system that had developed throughout my life where I felt if I got something that made me happy, I better not talk about it too much or it would somehow be whisked away. How did I get that idea? Was it my environment or simply how the world works? I once finally scored myself an office with a door at a job I had instead of the usual cubicle area. I was terrified of talking about it with my closest friend, savoring the excitement of it and my good luck at getting it. I thought that the second I relished it out loud, it wouldn't be long before I lost it.

So I know what you mean, I think. I don't have that fear any more though. At least I don't think I do. Well, certainly not as strong as it used to be. I suppose it is still there to some degree. But I now feel more like I deserve to have things and therefore I seem to have more of what I want. I do think it is ultimately based upon belief and what we truly feel inside we should have. And that whole glass is half-full perspective as well.

Having said that, your question was...
I do think there is a reason behind life's constant punishment (or hardship, or adversity) and that is balance. There is no light without dark, no easy without hard, etc. I was told emphatically by spirit that "There will always be adversity - always". We'd be soft and useless without it. It would be worse than boring, it would be stagnation.

So what is the trick? Well, this is how I see it...we have to embrace adversity and hardship. We can't single it out as an enemy or something we want to get rid of (because we can't get rid of it and we truly wouldn't want to). We have to incorporate it into all the joy and bliss. As such, the joy and bliss becomes greater, bigger, highlighted. It's like riding a bike up a hill, feeling the slight burn, but knowing the muscle is growing, then afterward feeling the rush of happy endorphins and other body chemicals that release to balance the pain. And then there is the top of the hill where you now can see out for miles and miles! And you earned it! It has meaning. Not everyone is sharing this spectacular view. And as if that is not enough, you get to go back down the hill, no effort, super fast, wind on your face! Life is so gooooooood....wheeee!