Perils of Progress

It seems sometimes
That personal growth
Is always followed
By a swarm of attacking
Challenges that continue
Until I succumb. The
Problem is that I don't
Realize the attack is
Underway until I have
Failed. It is then that
I seemingly awake to
Realize that the series
Of events leading to
Failure could not have
Been coincidence but
Could only have been
Organized against me.
Like Paul, I find
That the things I wish
To do, I do not do, and
The things I wish not
To do, are what I do.
Such are the perils
Of progress.