You and I will be disappointed, traumatised, hurt, frustrated, angry, sorrowful, grief stricken and disease ridden. I’m telling you this because we all know this to be true but we, for good reason, hide from it. The philosopher’s job is to uncover what is hidden in plain sight and the fact of the sufferable nature of life is probably the most hidden but the most fundamental of these hidden truths. We have been sold a false bill of goods and it all started with the belief in the pursuit of happiness. Ever since we aimed at happiness, we were doomed to fail.

The fact of the sufferable nature of life is probably the most hidden but the most fundamental of these hidden truths

When we started believing that we were entitled to happiness as a human right, we became more depressed than ever. When we’re told by mass corroborations and mass advertising and marketing that this car will make you happy or this holiday will make you happy or this chocolate bar will make you happy we started to believe it and now we are all running around like headless chickens trying to find our heads. We are searching frantically for the light switch in a darkened room not realising that we have our eyes closed.

The road towards happiness actually leads ironically towards unhappiness. When we’re happy we have no problems to solve and when have no problems to solve we become complacent and when we become complacent we stop solving problems and when we stop solving problems we become unhappy. We should therefore aim at fulfilment and to do that we have to flip what we believe on its head. We believe that pleasure leads to happiness, what if pain leads to fulfilment which makes happiness more likely? We believe that the ultimate goal is happiness, what if the ultimate goal isn’t happiness at all? Happiness is viewed as a positive thing; we achieve it by adding happiness to our lives but it’s actually a negative thing. Happiness is the absence of problems, it’s the absence of pain. The problem with happiness is that it is fleeting. It comes and goes and as much as we might want to control it, we can’t. What happens when we no longer feel happy and content? We have a new problem to solve? Therefore what leads to fulfilment? Solving problems. So this means that the answer to finding happiness is to continually solve problems. This means not running from problems, pretending they don’t exist, it means facing them voluntarily head on. The nature of problems however is that their difficult and painful so you won’t feel happy in the midst of solving them. You must therefore struggle in order to make it difficult to be unfulfilled.

Keep On Struggling

Gregor

Comedian I Saw Live - Tom Segura

Tom Segura is a comedian known for his dry and at times dark humour. This show had me painfully laughing which doesn’t happen often. He is currently on tour so if you can, get tickets. Otherwise, he has multiple specials on Netflix to binge.

Documentary I Enjoyed - The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck

Based on the mega best-selling book of the same name, this documentary tells the story of author Mark Manson and uncovers his liberating philosophies on life. Watch the documentary on Netflix now.

Quote to Ponder

If you are struggling to figure out where you are headed in life or what you are passionate about, pay attention to activities, ideas, and areas where you love the process, not just the results or the outcome. We are drawn to tasks where we can receive validation through results, but I've learned that true fulfillment comes from love of the process. Look for something where you love the process, and the results will follow - Amelia Boone

References

1) Tom Segura Image - IMDB

2) The Subtle Art… Image - Amazon

3) Image Credit - RawPixel