Jun 13, 2022
Life Sucks…but That’s Tough ****
Daily Meditation #111 — 6/13/2022
“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something,” as aptly put by none other than the Dread Pirate Roberts.
Existing is pain for all of us.
Maybe you grew up in extreme poverty, walking barefoot, eating oatmeal and rice.
You had a family member you loved and trusted molest you.
One of your parents murdered the other and then took their own life.
You entered the workforce during the GFC.
You just got fired from your job and are struggling to make ends meet.
Life really, truly is a treacherous experience.
But here’s the rub.
No matter how hard today is, no matter the struggle this exact moment, you must remember these two things:
1. There is a near 100% certainty you will experience a day worse than this.
2. Out there, somewhere, is someone else wishing they could have your current struggle instead of theirs.
This doesn’t mean you should just “Suck it up,” because, you’re right — pain is pain.
But it does mean you are misperceiving reality.
One day, before you know it, you will revert to your mean.
The absolute best way to correct your life isn’t even to make more money, get in shape or to improve your relationships directly…
It’s to improve your gratitude!
As mentioned in this previous meditation, “Gratitude is the shadowing behind the figure of light, adding contrast and depth to the form, making us understand that without it, we do not know what we have in life.”
So, pity yourself for a moment or even a day. There are no tragedies in life we are totally immune to.
But then, get up, dust off, and ask yourself “How can I get back onto the path to Eudaimonia today? How can I act, now, to ensure I better perceive tomorrow’s inevitable misfortunes?”
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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
