So often I’ve wished that trees in video games weren’t actually real. They never lead to anything good, especially when it comes to driving vehicles. Whether flying a plane, landing a helicopter, or trying to perform a sweet drift in a sports car, trees will often get in the way of accomplishing your objective. As a result of this, I’ve always complained about the trees in games, and I’ve wished they wouldn’t halt my progress in the game. I don’t know the number of times I’ve cursed a tree when it almost ruined my vehicle, or put me behind in a race, or even caused me to fail a mission (I’m looking at you Grand Theft Auto V).

While playing the beta for Ghost Recon Wildlands, I phased through every tree I set my eyes on. Finally, my prayers of having trees be intangible had been answered! In fact, there wasn’t even one tree that stopped me while I was in a vehicle. Landing a plane? Easy! Taking off with a helicopter? No problem! You can even off road with any car you want! Just make sure to avoid the rocks, because those will cause you some problems.

After spending a few hours with the beta and its intangible trees, I began to grow annoyed with them. Why are they here if they don’t matter? What was the point of having them in the game? Maybe it was because no other game had made trees intangible. Maybe it was because it defined reality. Or maybe it was because I missed the challenge.

Life is filled with challenges, both big and little, and often times we get annoyed with those challenges. We wish they weren’t there, and often times we fail to see the importance of these challenges. The same stands true for these trees. They are challenges, and if they aren’t there, if they don’t matter, it doesn’t feel right. The objective doesn’t feel earned without challenges, and it leaves me feeling empty.

Let this be a lesson for life. As much as we want the easy route, and as much as we don’t want to push ourselves to conquer what seems stupid challenges, we must embrace them in order to grow and feel a sense of accomplishment. So let those trees stand in your way, because they will only make reaching your goal be even more rewarding.