LIFE:What’s up with that!
Since our Childhood, most of us are told one thing “These are your golden years, study/take up a sport professionally and you would have never have to struggle and can lead a happy-comfortable life”. No matter what strata of society you belong to and which continent you come from, if you are not super rich or super poor, chances are you would have heard this line in one form or another.
And unfortunately, that’s where we begin to mess up!
Our own parents, our guardian angels who put food on our tables and a roof over our heads basically providing for us during the nascent and most vulnerable stage of our life telling us to be risk averse and try to prevent DISCOMFORT.
But just like me, most of you would have begin to realise that something is not right here!. When we go through the entire drill on education.. marriage.. kids, that we understand that okay folks, this was all a waste of time! when the hell does it get better!!
You see, what most of us believed to be true and were apparently working towards with all all our zest, focus and energy has been a lie. Life never gets better, its not meant to!
On the contrary,Life gets hard. You are thrown in with a new challenge everyday at home or in office. Your boss is a god damn fool, your relation-ship is not going well. Your kid is a brat and your friends don’t have time for a weekend bender anymore!
Yes, with time and money in your bank account you get to lead a relatively easier life but the keyword here is ‘relatively’. You would now have access to the things that you suppose will make you happy but honestly for how long! you thought you married the girl of your dreams but don’t you wonder did I actually? Don’t you get this passing thought that god I wish its a dream and I want to get up and lead the life I was promised in my childhood or saw in cartoon movies. We are at a continuous war with ourselves all the time.
Its from our own experience of living this life that we understand that life is extremely raw and bland. Life doesn't care if you’ve money or not. It doesn't care if are a monk or a sweatshop owner in China. It doesn't care if you support Trump or Sanders.
Then what is Life?
And can we ever be “Happy”?
We need to understand that we are part of a billion year old evolution process that started out in distress. We have always been programmed to seek discomfort right from our Hunter-Gatherer days. At this juncture of human evolution where in we can say we are the most advanced and safest species on the world at the moment, why aren’t we happy in fact as per historical data, we are the most depressed of all the generations!!
Its because we have moved away from the basic gene of living this life. That is seeking discomfort. Right from our childhood we are told of ways to how to avoid a tough life and how to avoid hardships. We are made to be soft and when we get exposed to the real world we are not able to take the stress or pressure and therefore contemplate our reality and get depressed.
A good life is a meaningful life, where you produce more than consume!
That’s how you can live a happy life!