Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes a verse in Yeshaiya (32:20):
אַשְׁרֵיכֶ֕ם זֹרְעֵ֖י עַל־כׇּל־מָ֑יִם מְשַׁלְּחֵ֥י רֶגֶל־הַשּׁ֖וֹר וְהַחֲמֽוֹר
"Happy shall you be who sow by all waters, who send out cattle and donkeys to pasture."
Derashos Maharal (Derash Al HaTorah 5) understands this verse as referring to the impact of Torah on a person and what it yields when engaged with properly. Tanna Debei Eliyahu Zuta (Seder Eliyahu Zuta 15) comments on this verse: “Water here refers to Torah. Fortunate is the man who makes himself strong as an ox and donkey, to plow the fields of Torah.” Maharal develops this idea further, explaining that the ox represents strength of will, and the donkey represents brute physical strength, as well as the ability to carry large loads. The study of Torah requires both physical stamina for the long hours and hard work it demands, but also intellectual will and resolve to penetrate complex analyses. The analogy to plowing the field is that a field alone is empty with nothing in it. However, when worked properly, it produces abundance. Similarly, a person must initially become as strong as a donkey and as determined as an ox to bring out the latent wisdom within the “soil” of what he is studying.
Notably, Maharal says this is why the first sacrifice (Omer) brought on the second day of Pesach is made from barley. This sacrifice initiates the process of counting and preparing for Shavuos, the receiving of the Torah. The Gemara Sotah (14a) says that the Sotah brings a sacrifice made of barley, which is animal food, because she behaved in an animal-like manner. The Omer sacrifice is also barley, hinting at an animal-like quality, but here it is for a positive effect. In the beginning of one's journey toward greater Torah competency and knowledge, one must behave with the strength of an animal and plow ahead. Only later, after many years of investment and hard work, other higher spiritual motivations and experiences will be manifested.
I find this to be particularly true in the study of Gemara. The language, syntax, and style of logic in the Gemara require years of hard work before the deeper, nuanced pleasure comes out from studying this material. Many young people get frustrated with the intricacies of the Talmud and are never able to develop the facility to study it and enjoy it freely. It is unfortunate because the Talmud is the intellectual heart and soul of Judaism. The proliferation of Daf Yomi and English language resources hopefully goes some way toward addressing this challenge. I do not have any easy solutions other than to say that when you reach the point where you're able to read and hear the words in their full meaning and you have been exposed to enough of the classic sugyos to appreciate the trend and flow of the arguments, that is when the full beauty and enjoyment of Talmud study emerges. The words are multi-representational, laced with irony, humor, double entendres, and deep philosophical insights. All of this occurs within a legalistic backdrop that will not hesitate to penetrate every detail and letter of the law in order to mine the significance and implications, allowing poskim to come up with new applications of halakha into modern times. To those readers who have been scared off from Gemara study due to overbearing teachers or personal frustrations, I urge you to reconsider approaching this material with an adult heart and mind.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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