Enjoying ones job makes it easier to do and one more effective at it, so well done on that.
You say, you never take the easy way. If you mean, you never shy away from difficult things, I agree with it...if you mean you purposely choose the difficult paths when there other options...I guess I don't agree necessarily.
Neither an easy road, nor a difficult road Galen, years of traveling and even so, it is possible that I did not choose what was a priority at that time, from these well-learned experiences now I dedicate myself much more to those things that I like, that I am good at and productive.
Experience heightens our understanding of things and we can push forward commensurate to the lessons learned from experiences both good and bad.
Exactly, experience makes us experts, and in that way to see how excellence arises, our masterpiece.