Life, is it Suffering?

Let’s explore that idea for a moment. Now for a something to be true, ideally it has to be globally applicable. Let’s take a look at the so called “worst” possible life.

One possibility is life where the physical needs are the worst, case in point ,Africa. Being in developed country, I felt that hunger is a huge pain, something that disable me to do activities. Once I get hungry, I would stop doing whatever I do, and go find food to eat. Another issue is the pain from all the various illnesses: fever, polio, and malnourishment. I can’t imagine the various pain you feel from all these illnesses, just fever alone make me feel like I’m dying.

However, despite all the sufferings and how prevalent it is, I see from time to time, images of Africans smiling, the camaraderie of friendship and of culture of dancing and songs. Despite all these, people seem to have these moments where all the pain is forgotten, and joy and glee is all they felt.

Another possibility is when life is mentally draining. Many people need to work hard due to various reasons, to provide a living or even due to social norm. In this pursuit of work, oftentimes they are not working on their “passions” due to practical reasons. This, combined with various pressures from upper management or deadlines, causes many to stress and burnt out, especially in COVID situation where things are restricted.

In between those mental stresses, people still have moments of joy, most of which I see from relationships, either family or friends. They share a meal and laughter, as a relief from the continuous burden that they bear.

The last suffering is about spiritual or existential suffering. It is a state where people feel life is meaningless, perhaps due to mundane work or during extreme condition such as war, where lives fleet over every day. You question why are we even alive to begin with? Is it due to a random event, from our parents drive? What if your parents do not love you?

Again, people are able to find some reason to continue to live, mostly by finding a purpose or creating one. Some include reaching the potential, or delivering great impact.

At the end of it all, there is always hope, few people who triumph over suffering. Maybe we could be them.