Quick answer
Laziness makes its own road difficult. Every task looks like a thornbush to the man avoiding it, while the upright find the way open and raised.
Read both lines
The contrast is two roads through the same country. The lazy man's path is a thorn hedge, which is the perfect image because it captures both the obstacle and the illusion: he genuinely experiences the day as impassable, and the barrier is real to him even though the ground underneath is the same ground. The second line answers with a "highway," a built-up road, cleared and raised above the mud. The point is not that the diligent have easier lives. It is that the road gets built by the walking, so avoidance compounds into overgrowth while ordinary steady work quietly grades a route.
Related: Proverbs 22:13 · Proverbs 26:13–16
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.