Life isn’t hard. No, it’s not really. The expectations that we place on our lives viewed through the lens of life milestones and our desire to be approved by society is what makes life hard.
Imagine if we weren’t expected to finish school, get married or achieve fame and fortune. Imagine if our lives weren’t centered around meeting a certain marker for success. Unfortunately we do not live in that type of world and we are expected to be able to take care of ourselves financially, couple up at some point and achieve some version of greatness at least once in our lives.
In order to achieve any of these goals expressed and normalized by our society we have to struggle to achieve them. A struggle isn’t always a negative thing, sometimes it simply means being determined and not giving up even when we are tired. We go through these times to prove that we really want what we desire and most often if we don’t give up, we are rewarded with the desires of our hearts.
Struggle is beneficial in several ways:
1) It allows us to feel a much sweeter victory. For some reason, we don’t value what isn’t earned.
2) It teaches us how to maneuver through setbacks. Once you go through a struggle for the first time and you make it through to the other side, you will always have that period to refer to if you are ever faced with the same struggle again. The second time you face that struggle, it isn’t much of a struggle, it’s just a locked door for which you already have the key.
3) It offers us the dramatic parts of our life story. Who wants a life story that has no drama or tension? No one living has one. Whenever you tell a story to a friend, the good ones have a roadblock or hindrance and involves some crafty skill or a mental or physical battle to move forward. The struggle is what makes our lives more exciting. The toil is what offers us our badge of honor. We haven’t truly lived until we have overcome some hurdle in our lives and we all secretly crave the excitement of being face to face with our fears which, when overcome, lead to the most memorable and satisfying moments of our lives.
