Why is Life A Struggle?

Struggle Has Spared None

It is no surprise to anyone that life is a struggle. Everyone has experienced it and has totally accepted life as a struggle. This struggle has not spared anyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or what stage of life you are in or what you have achieved in life, life constantly keeps happening imperfectly. If we don’t have anything, we struggle and try to achieve something which gives us more struggle. If we achieve that something, we try to achieve more and the struggle continues. But even if we achieve everything we wanted and everything that makes life very comfortable, life still seems and feels like a struggle. Whether we keep moving or we stand still, life is a constant struggle for human-beings. Why is this so? Why is life struggle for one and all? Is life really a big   arduous struggle or we are doing something  totally wrong which makes us feel so?

Mental Struggles

Mental Struggles

If we choose to sit quietly in a place without doing anything at all for sometime, our mind will start to struggle and would pull us along. It will push us and try to make us do some activity. And this is fair enough. We shouldn’t sit idle and not do anything because it is simply a waste of time. We should either go to work and earn some money or we should do some exercise and make ourselves fitter and stronger so as to keep us free of diseases or we should just go out with family and friends to spend some quality time with them. So, the mental struggle we face while sitting idle is a genuine one and it’s for our own good.

Now suppose we started doing one of the activities listed above. For example, we went outside with family to spend some quality time with them. Now, we have to plan the whole outing. There will be many places where you can go. Different family members will suggest different places and there will be a long, intense discussion. This may again feel like a struggle, a struggle to decide your family’s hanging-out spot. But once again it has benefitted you. The discussion among your family members is a very healthy practice. It brings the family together to make an informed and balanced decision that is correct and takes into account everyone’s  knowledge & concerns. It also makes you all understand, accept & respect each other’s choices. And finally it makes you choose the best possible spot where your family can hang-out and enjoy together. Similarly, there can be many decisions to make while you are on the outing which might make you struggle but all of them benefit you in some basic ways & means.

Physical Struggles 

Physical Struggles

Now, we not only have to take decisions but also bring them into action. We have to reach the decided place and do what we had planned to do there. This might involve many struggles too. While driving to reach the place, you may face traffic jams, car break-downs or the very struggle to reach the spot safely. Similarly upon reaching the spot, you have to stand in the queue to get the ticket or food. Then you may have to find a nice, secure and cozy place to sit. But doesn’t all these experiences enrich you, make you learn the art of living, surviving & thriving and make you and your family have a good time together? If it does then either all these struggles are worth it or they are not struggles at all but an exploration of an adventurous life in all its dimensions that makes you better person in every aspect of life. The above example showed us the struggles of a family but it is equally applicable to our lives as an individual too. We all go through mental and physical struggles in life but this whole process enriches us, gives us important lessons in life and transforms us to make us the best possible versions of ourself. 

Ending All Struggles

Ending All Struggles

But struggles are struggles after all. It doesn’t matter how advantageous they may be in the long run to us, we feel irritated, confused & angry when we have to struggle for anything. This is why we need to end all the struggles from our life! But is it possible? Can we really remove all the struggles from our life? Is there really a way to live life absolutely peacefully and happily without feeling even the slightest of struggles? Well, the actions can never be perfect in the physical world. Do it anyway but there will still be a better way to do things which we can never ever actually achieve. So, imperfections of the real world may give you a hard time in struggling to find perfection in every action but there is still a way to end these struggles for ourself. It’s our mind that holds the key in converting our struggles into bliss.

Mental Peace & Pure Consciousness

Mental Peace & Pure Consciousness

If we can create stillness, tranquility & peace in our minds, no actions howsoever difficult it may be, can make us struggle mentally or physically. When our mind becomes completely peaceful, the only question that remains is will it remain peaceful when are doing some difficult and intense action? A peaceful mind is also a mind dipped totally in consciousness. It brings you in the present moment completely. You are totally aware about every minutest detail of the activity you are performing. You know exactly what you are doing, how to do it and in which direction to take it. When this is so, you will be at your best while performing any activity because you are not using your memory but your consciousness to do something. This will give you the best possible results which will be perfect or near perfect for you. Only a peaceful mind can bring out a perfect outcome for us. 

Application : Into Meditative Stillness

Application : Into Meditative Stillness

The only question is how to make our minds totally peaceful? For this we have to go back to the starting of our example where we were sitting idle and our mental struggles pushed us into doing some activity. In the example we had chosen to pay heed to our mental struggles and jump start an activity. To achieve peacefulness & consciousness of mind, we have to do the opposite of this. We have to say ‘no’ to any activity. We have to sit in complete nothingness. A mental space where we don’t feel compelled to start or perform any activity. A space where our mental-peace fuels more mental-peace for ourself. We have to subscribe out of all activities to be able to exist only and totally in complete nothingness. 

Achieve peace without any reason and for no reason. This is a meditative state that ends all struggles. It makes us learn how to remain truly peaceful. And when we truly learn to be peaceful by practicing this meditative state, we have to gradually start applying this peaceful mental state in everything we do. This is how the end of our mental struggles will end our struggles while performing an action. This will not only make us peaceful while doing an activity but will also make us do it to the best of our ability and achieve perfection.

Conclusion

So, there are two ways to end our struggles in life. Either we stop seeing them as struggles and start seeing them as something advantageous and a process of exploring life completely. Or we create a peaceful & fully conscious mind which helps us do every action ‘perfect’ to our ability ie. the best possible we can be at something. Only when we feel our life to be free of all mental and physical struggles, will we walk full stride and carve out a path for ourself which we not only like but also truly enjoy walking. And it’s our mind that holds this key to transforming all our struggles into opportunities for us in our life!

Life is Blissful