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Struggles
We never have been taught to appreciate our struggles. The scar they leave linger on until we take our last breath but no one ever tells us to take time and appreciate what we had to go through to live past our hard times, our sorrow times or our happy times. Throughout our lifetime we jump from one experience to another thinking that one day we will achieve our end goal of ‘happiness ’ but in achieving that goal we forget the hardships because the uncertainty of future shackles us to the tree of unsaid expectations we have built for ourselves. Living in the present is an exploitative term which we often use to provide momentary happiness. We then hop on to the other option which is to be critical of ourselves, undervalue what we have earned or look at others and compare ourselves while forgetting from where we came. Living in the past is not the suggestion but sometimes appreciating what we have now and reflecting upon our struggles is a small token of self-love we can give ourselves once in a while. Rather comparing with others what if we compare ourselves to the 10 year old child who could not think of what we have now. It’s not necessarily the materialistic things but it could be a better situation you are in now which we could be appreciative of. Calling ourselves selfless is in turn a selfish way, are not we humans according to Hobbes ‘selfish’ subjects. Surely, self-reflection is a privilege of boredom which not all can afford but certainly sometimes that privilege can help us understand ourselves and the society better. By understanding and appreciating our struggles we can be empathetic to other’s struggles, sometimes by being selfish we can be more open to the thought of living. The irony is while writing this, the hypocrisy of undervaluing myself would still exist in all space and time :)
