Hardship

One is thrown into the hardship by something or someone, then he/she complains the hardship caused by the thing or the person day and night, over and over again. Then, one day, all the sudden, all his/her hardship disappears. He/she rolls into easiness. He/she can no longer complain, and no longer has a reason to endure hardship. Suppose, in truth, one needs the hardship to be healthy, as I believe this to be true. She/he starts to complain about something that is bigger: life itself! He/she starts to dislike life, because he/she has no way to be healthy. There is no longer someone or something to push him/her into hardship that he/she can endure in the daytime and relieve with delight in the night. Life without hardship, is despicable. He/she despises himself/herself.

Let me give you an example:

Dave is office worker in a big company. He has a terrible boss that always full of himself and is demanding on Dave. Dave, dislikes his job. Every week he comes into work with a mind that is already on beaches in Florida. He looked at his work with the same tiring eye that his boss has. He looks at the clock on the wall and the watch on his raise wrist. 5 clock, time to roll. He leaves at the exact time that he is supposed to leave without hesitation. He goes to bar and relax. He complains to his friend how boring it is in the office, and how awful is his boss treating him. His friends listen and he keeps drinking more. He has a wonderful time. One day, he wins lottery that is worthy a huge amount of money he dreams about. The money is more than enough to him to live a lavish life every single day. He is thrilled, and jump up and down. He could not contain his excitement so much, that he creams, which alerts his neighbors. He stops when he sees his alerted neighbors looking at him with strange eyes. Next day, he goes to the office triumphantly and writes a nice quitting letter to his boss. He walks with delight and confidence passing his miserable co-workers, and knocks on his boss door. He smile and then smile big because he could not contain himself. Then he put the letter down, says something good and leaves. He does not care about his stuff in the office. he has enough money to buy all of them. easy. Dave goes the bar that day. He has nothing to talk about. He cannot complain. He says to himself that he is supposed to be happy, but he is not. He is empty, and lonely. Worse, he starts to fear. He fears that he loses what he has: money. He becomes suspicious towards his friends. He stops goes to the bar. He thinks only losers going to the bar. He buys a house in Florida. He relaxes on the beach everyday. He becomes fatter and fatter. He is lonely. He is supposed to be happy and he is not. What happened? He wonders. He starts to dislike himself but don’t know why. He fears more and more losing what he has..

End of the sample.

To reiterate my claim: one needs the hardship to be healthy. I believe it is true. It applies to me, and I saw many real life examples.

Read Nietzsche, “What is Meaning of Ascetic Ideals” in On the Genealogy of Morals for his thoughts on the meaning of “hardship” practiced by philosophers, scientists, religious practitioners and many more…