Greetings, Dear @bleujay, I hope this Sunday will be blessed for you!
You have raised an interesting topic, in this phrase I see an absolutely atheistic worldview in which a person is the master of his own destiny and sees his opportunities not in God's grace, but in some life factors, in his own experience, but our life experience is not worth a copper penny, if a brick falls on a smart head one day.
For people who do not know God, these statements are very individual and for some, difficulties will strengthen, while for others, they can lead to suicide, or to a mental hospital. Labor, it too, without God's grace, can not strengthen the body, but on the contrary, destroy it. Something like that :)
Your photos and watercolors are magnificent!
!BEER