5-Feb-2020
Welcome to the inaugural post of Struggle Perpetual. Life can be a struggle when you want something you currently don’t have and try as you might, it just seems so unattainable, so far far way, even impossible. Yet, despite continuous effort and hard work, you still stare down the face of failure day after day. You are left wondering, is the universe against you? Did you do something in this and past lives, of which now you have to atone for your sins and repay for past transgressions? Most importantly, the real question comes down to, when and where in your life, did it go so terribly wrong?
In reality, life is a series of random events, some considered to be good and some considered to be bad. Chances are, you’ve gotten a few of the bad ones and can’t seem to shake them off to get to the good ones. As Alan Watt’s story on the Chinese farmer [1] illustrated, things happen and is follow by more things and so forth. So, one should not be bothered to categorise events as good or bad as no one knows what is going to happen next.
This is of course cold comfort to anyone who is currently struggling and suffering, dealing with so called bad events with very real feelings and emotions. There are immediate concerns like where do I find the next dollar to buy food, how to live a decent quality of life, etc. Sure, attaining a new enlightenment can lead to happiness but that takes time, effort and training, so for most mere mortals, it is just another struggle in a long list of other struggles, to overcome.
Like a lot of people on this planet, the single most common struggle is how to survive in the modern world. Generally, this entails having money to pay for at least the basics, like food, housing, education, health care. Once that is achieved and it is by no means an easy feat, then there are a whole host of other needs waiting to be fulfilled. Needs like safety, comfort, feeling of importance (i.e. you matter) – just look at the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs [2] and there is a lot. With so many needs, plus the endless trappings of materialism and with life’s curve balls thrown at us, it’s little wonder why so many of us have so many problems and issues. Hence the struggle as they say, continues.
To be fair, there are simple solutions. One is to just give up, don’t try and accept. Another is to have faith in positivity and believe that everything will eventually turn out ok. Then there is the changing of the goal post, rewrite your definition of success. Finally, on the other side of the spectrum, there is the hard way, that is to accept personal responsibility and keep trying till you have overcome.
So, if you believe that doing nothing, waiting/hoping and make self believe are not the panacea. Or you may even have tried it and it hasn’t quiet worked out. Then the only thing left to do is, to take action and the very first step is to start.
[1] https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/11/06/alan-watts-swimming-headless/
Struggle Perpetual 