Avoiding hills

Ok, I am three days beyond my race and am thinking through everything that happened.  One big thing I realized that hurt  me in this run was the hills.  So many hills that slowed my pace and brought my legs pain.  I ran miles in training and wanted my pace to be good, so I pretty much avoided the hills.  I did a few you know, just for good measure. But for the most part I ran the flat and easy.  BIG MISTAKE.  Had I been a little less inclined to get a lower time for my practice runs I would maybe have been better able to handle the incline during the real race.  I was avoiding the trouble of the hills.  

I am realizing life is like that too.  How many times do we want to avoid the hills (trouble, problems, trials) that are so much a part of everyone's life?  If we embrace them, even the little ones, knowing that it will make us stronger and prepare us for something greater, wouldn't we be much better off in the end when it really counts? When the prizes are given out.  When the time really matters.  I think so.  I am going to put this to practice in my life and embrace each problem as a preparation for something wonderful down the road.