Life is a struggle. Love is a battlefield. No pain no gain. All overused clichés, right? Yes. However, there is some existential truth behind the pop lyrics and sports mantras. We need to struggle at some point in our lives. Struggle is good for us, it teaches us to work hard and to appreciate the good things that we have. Without hardship, life would be one big bowl of rose scented ease. It would be slow and relaxed. Where’s the fun in that?There is a general belief in our society that I would like to point out. We are told to save for retirement as soon as possible so we can play golf and sit on the beach in Florida as soon as we hit 62. Buy a big flat screen, 3D, HD, smart TV so we can really enjoy our leisure time. Call a stock broker so our money can make money for us. We save our pennies so we can buy the products that are designed and marketed to encourage our leisure. This is all well and good. I want a big screen TV some day and I wouldn’t mind playing a little more golf (or I should say some at all), but before I get there, I know I have a lot of work to do.
There seems to be an increasing notion that the ultimate goal should be to lead comfortable, leisurely lives. The idea of struggle seems to suggest that we are doing something wrong, that we have somehow failed. We expect immediate returns on our investments and if we’re not living comfortably according to plan, we messed up somewhere along the line. If you agree with this statement, then what I’m trying to convey here may be hard to digest, but here goes. We are supposed to struggle through life. Now, I’m not just making a blanket statement that I blindly hold onto as truth because I’m not what most would consider “successful.” This is no statement of hope for a better life somewhere down the line. God said it and history proves it.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress… This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.” These words were delivered by Frederick Douglass in 1857 in a preface to the Civil War (Taylor, Quintard). He was raised on a slave holding plantation taught himself to read and write and eventually became a respected writer and public speaker for abolition and women’s rights (Fremarjo Enterprises). He knew the value of hardship. Obviously slavery was far from a necessary struggle, but general adversity is an important step toward the appreciation of life.
Jesus was a man who travelled from city to city preaching about love, both of God and of each other. He recognized that there was struggle in life and even told his disciples “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Whether you accept the man as your savior or not, he recognized that he had to endure the greatest struggle of all in order for his message to forever impact mankind. He was tortured and killed by the very race of men to which he had been preaching the power of love. He endured the ultimate struggle in order to preserve the idea of goodness. Death can sometimes result from struggle, but without it the world would never change. Out of struggle comes new life, better life.
Okay, let’s bring this back down to earth and present day. How does this apply to our daily lives? Well, most of us struggle on a daily basis, right? No matter how small or large that struggle is, doesn’t it make those moments of peace and serenity even better? What if you won the lottery today? You took home some exorbitant amount of money that ensured you would never have to work again, that all your bills would be paid forever. What would you do? How would you live after that? Buy a huge house and a couple cars, all those products made to encourage your life of leisure? How long would that actually make you happy, though? What would you do all day every day, with nothing to occupy your time? Most, I think, would start a non-profit or volunteer their time and resources to helping others or solving one of the world’s problems. Essentially take on another struggle. Circle of life people.
From the beginning of life we go to school and we study, we work hard to learn as much as we can. We go to college to learn even more and to prepare for a career. We have to study a little harder than we did before. We then land jobs that require us to work hard to accomplish a common goal and to earn a living. We fall in love and get married and buy houses. Then the cycle starts over when we raise children of our own. All of these stages require effort and determination. We work for that ideal retirement, for that cold beer at the end of the day, for the Sunday of relaxing and watching football. If all these luxuries just existed without the necessary hardship, how would our world be different? Would we be uneducated and lazy? Sounds like a terrible existence.
The investments that yield the most rewarding profits are those that require sweat and will power, time and energy. Someone who takes care of a home with their own two hands will more fully enjoy the benefits of that investment. Someone who pays for their own education and diligently studies to earn a degree will more completely appreciate that accomplishment. Someone who dedicates time and effort to a marriage or parenthood will truly value the love received in return. Put in the work, enjoy the dessert. Work before play. More clichés (yeah I’m a poet).
We should also understand what that work does for us, beyond the results. Beyond hard work is the general concept of struggle. Be it in application to civil war or working your way up the corporate ladder, it is encompassing of all the exertion a certain need requires. It is tough to simplify this concept into one word, but struggle makes us stronger. Struggle teaches us about ourselves and allows us to adapt and grow. It allows us to discover how to best survive.
I’m thankful that my life hasn’t been a cake walk. I know that I’m better suited for the ways of the world. So, next time you’re having a self-pity party, crying into your Ben & Jerry’s pint, just remember that your struggle is valuable. You are lifting emotional weights that are building emotional muscles that will serve you for the rest of your life. Struggle is good for you, wear it like a badge.
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Taylor, Quintard. An Online Reference Guide to African American History. n.d.
Fremarjo Enterprises, Inc. A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass. n.d. Fremarjo Enterprises, Inc.
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