Is life supposed to be easy or difficult?

[UnbornTao]

We might not know what life is, so basing questions on presumptions is not a good way to go about it.

Self-survival is inherently a struggle. Pain and fear are extremely accesible experiences -- as are freedom and happiness, but also less common for people to access. Self-survival demands managing what's considered negative, positive quickly fades, taken for granted and so may go unnoticed. And of course the bitch of it all is that we can't win the game of life. Ultimately self is going to die.

But joy is possible too.

Simplistic answers don't provide much except a new idea or opinion. Better to look at what all of this is for oneself.

Edited May 15, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Thought Art]

Life is like a mind field

You never know what your gonna get

[CARDOZZO]

What do you think about the belief that "The higher your level of Consciousness, more easy your life is."?

Is it true for yourself?

[Thought Art]

@CARDOZZO Harder especially if you lack the maturity to handle the consciousness.

[Carl-Richard]

On 13.5.2023 at 1:27 PM, Someone here said:

I guess Alcohol?  Yeah that one is a bitch . Luckily I'm not the kind of person who will miss around with Alcohol. Cigarettes are more than  enough for me .

Weed. I tried mixing it with alcohol, but I didn't like how it impacted my mind. I wasn't just trying to escape myself, but I was also deeply obsessed with existential questions, and weed fuels that in a particular way. It allows you to hyper-focus on your interests while also dissociating yourself from uncomfortable realities. It's a drug of distraction, meanwhile alcohol numbs everything pretty equally.

 

On 13.5.2023 at 1:27 PM, Someone here said:

What do you mean by "cyclical "?

You tend to suffer the same things over and over again. Your fears, anxieties, worries, insecurities; they're endlessly stuck on repeat. If they only occurred to you once, you wouldn't be suffering them anymore. On the other hand, pain is often due to something immediate or unexpected. It's more like a one-off thing, because you'll learn to avoid the source of the pain (although chronic pain is a bit different).

 

On 13.5.2023 at 1:27 PM, Someone here said:

think of it from a  Myth of Sisyphus perspective. It seems like if you believe suffering is a choice.. then you’d say :well.. we have to imagine sisyphus happy because he believes one day the rock  will stay at the top. He has found meaning in his task..so he does not suffer. But it’s not like he "chose" to be rolling the rock  every day . he has to. And if he couldn’t find meaning in the task..that’s not his fault.. is it? You can’t force yourself to not suffer. You don’t have control over these things.

I did some googling and it seems I am in the minority..most people agree that suffering is a choice. Can anyone here explain to me from a philosophical viewpoint why that is?

I think you're thinking of choice as being 100% of your making, which is never really the case. But some things are more under your control than other things. There is a difference between being struck by lightening and sticking your fingers into a socket. Neither of them are either fully in your control or outside your control, but one is more than the other. Suffering is generally more in your control than being exposed to pain. Again, pain is very much a reflexive response generally to something unexpected, while suffering is something you're generally familiar with and which can be greatly reduced by making some conscious effort towards that.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[CARDOZZO]

@Thought Art Good point!  

It's like awakening while in different stages of development. 

[Princess Arabia]

Here's an interesting quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj about suffering.

Suffering warns us that the structures of memories and habits, which we call the person, is threatened by loss or change. Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting. It is a sign of our unwillingness to move on - to flow with life. A Saintly life is free from suffering. The essence of Saintliness is total acceptance of the present moment; harmony with things as they happen. A Saint does not want things to be different from what they are. He knows that, considering all factors, they are unavoidable. He's friendly with the inevitable and, therefore, does not suffer. Pain, he may know, but it does not shatter him. If he can, he does the needful to restore the balance or he lets things take their course.

[Razard86]

1 hour ago, Princess Arabia said:

Here's an interesting quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj about suffering.

Suffering warns us that the structures of memories and habits, which we call the person, is threatened by loss or change. Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting. It is a sign of our unwillingness to move on - to flow with life. A Saintly life is free from suffering. The essence of Saintliness is total acceptance of the present moment; harmony with things as they happen. A Saint does not want things to be different from what they are. He knows that, considering all factors, they are unavoidable. He's friendly with the inevitable and, therefore, does not suffer. Pain, he may know, but it does not shatter him. If he can, he does the needful to restore the balance or he lets things take their course.

^^^^^ This is all a choice. Anyone that tells you otherwise is in denial. The only choice you don't have is whether you are exposed to this knowledge. But once you are, your willingness to accept this is up to you. Any denial is complete delusion. It's actually amazing the amount of delusion humans can make about this topic yet they don't realize that every single one of them have overcome depression by CHOOSING to change their current frame.

Depression is overcome by acceptance, and anyone who has ever experienced it eventually, no matter how unwilling accepted whatever they were resisting and moved on. This is the proof that depression is your own creation, and to make claims otherwise is to doom yourself to revisit that experience. This is why suffering is such a great teacher! It will teach you that you are creating it, until you decide to take accountability and stop creating what you do not want to experience. 

So keep up deluding yourself that you do not create depression, you will continue to experience it until you are done teaching yourself that it was delusion to think otherwise.

[Dioxide2533]

it's supposed to be difficult

One could give many reasons for this but I'll go with this one: individual humans are just tools used by our genes to replicate themselves, it doesn't matter to nature if we are happy or not.

We really should stop reproducing, it's unethical specially in non rich countries and families.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Dioxide2533

[integral]

I always choose the hardest difficulty when starting a new game, I enjoy the challenge.

---

On a personal story ive had a very loving family and fantastic start in life both genetics and nurturing life experiences but still managed to spiral down into decades of hell. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by integral

[Roy]

Life's a bitch, and then you die.

[lostingenosmaze]

Shit happens, and it's awesome 

[hyruga]

9 hours ago, integral said:

I always choose the hardest difficulty when starting a new game, I enjoy the challenge.

---

On a personal story ive had a very loving family and fantastic start in life both genetics and nurturing life experiences but still managed to spiral down into decades of hell.

Awesome! Choosing the highest difficulty.

Magnificent family life as well. Why did you spiral down?

[Rigel]

If it's hard then that's what it's supposed to be. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Rigel

[hyruga]

On 5/16/2023 at 3:40 AM, Rigel said:

If it's hard then that's what it's supposed to be. 

Hard and difficult actually has different meanings. The difference is quite subtle but there definitely is some distinctions between them.

Edited May 17, 2023 by hyruga

[Medhansh]

On 13/05/2023 at 5:03 AM, Leo Gura said:

No one has ever had an easy life. This notion is a joke.

Not even the son of a rich upper-class business man, who is pissing away time by burning money, attending parties, etc.? And is also enjoying the fruits of perfect health, young body, high energy, etc. Knowing that he has everything backed up in terms of wealth.

[Razard86]

20 minutes ago, Medhansh said:

Not even the son of a rich upper-class business man, who is pissing away time by burning money, attending parties, etc.? And is also enjoying the fruits of perfect health, young body, high energy, etc. Knowing that he has everything backed up in terms of wealth.

Life is a self-correcting mechanism. He will eventually face adversity and experience the opposite of what he thinks is good. Life is a drama, that gives you the gift of pain and pleasure. 

[Bobby_2021]

Life is supposed to be easy. No doubt about it. I can confirm it.

But easy or difficult depends on what you think it is. 

Life is easy, fundamentally speaking. It is the ego that makes life difficult with shitty conclusions about life and unnecessary expectations.

Edited May 18, 2023 by Bobby_2021

[Yimpa]

On 5/14/2023 at 9:07 PM, Roy said:

Life's a bitch, and then you die.

 

[thepixelmonk]

On 12/05/2023 at 10:46 PM, Someone here said:

Oh dear Leo..where were you absent man ?got me worried about you. 

Anyways..glad you are still doing good ,I suppose. 

Why so pessimistic though ? Does it have anything to do with your health problems? 

It's not pessimistic. It's an extremely simple truth you have not yet accepted.