Good to see you cropping up on Pprune Owen, I've enjoyed your writing in Global Aviator over the last couple of years.
I'm happy to rant about EASA with the best of them, but to be honest I've been fighting various aspects of bureaucracy in aviation for as long as I've been an adult, and this is just the latest layer. I quite agree that they are doing things which are barking mad, anti-safety, or just pointless - but I've encountered many other agencies doing the same. When I'm airborne, in a serviceable and well designed flying machine, on a flyable day the authority becomes completely irrelevant and I'm enjoying my flying as much as I ever have.
So, no, EASA is not my greatest challenge in flying.
For me my greatest challenge is preparation and discipline. I'm lucky enough to fly a lot of types (14 last year I think) and to very much enjoy my flying. I'm unlucky however in that I have to spend a lot of time doing other stuff on the ground. This means that far too often I approach an aeroplane with just a little less preparation than I'd have preferred, or have less time in the aeroplane than I'd like.
So, I need to force my time into ensuring I get enough and proper preparation done before each flight. And force myself to follow procedures and checks in the air as well as I know how, rather than as well as I might if I let myself enjoying the flying just a tiny bit too much.
G