How Not to Make Your Life Difficult
You can create own bliss despite the noise
Life is life.
Whatever we make out of life is dependent on many factors. Sometimes we are flying above the clouds having all the feelings we enjoy and other time we are down in the dust beaten and battered. What we say and think at various time of these two events are not true depictions of what we are experiencing but largely out of our own interpretations. This does not deny the fact that happiness or pain is does not exist but our interpretations make real.
Our perception is our reality.
However, life is still very complex that any attempt to understand its complexity can take another lifetime. Since we have no other life than this ephemeral one, we must find a way to life it as we deem fit. But sometimes, In our attempt to live it as we like,we make it difficult for ourselves in the process. Excessive simplification can lead to complexity.
Still we need to simplify life because that is the only way to make sense of it. In our attempt to live simply, we create laws, rules and regulations. We tell ourselves stories to create values and what’s desirable. These stories and ensuing rules give us the framework within which we view everything and create more rules and stories. It is an endless pursuits but one that is needed as long as it guarantees our survival and existence.
But in following these ways of live, we yearn for more growth and expression. This is natural to our existence that we evolve as the world unfolds. So we yearn for freedom, breaking the status quo. Unfortunately, we create more problems by seeking this freedom. We start another search for solutions and the cycle continues.
This kind of life, though simple to reason, is difficult for most people to live. This may not explain all the personal ills and helplessness among all persons but I have experienced it in my own and among people I deal with every day.
Some give up on life in total and live a life of silent desperation while some go full throttle and break the cycle destroying themselves in the process. There are few lucky ones that have hacked this riddle and go with the flow of life. They do not wish to bend the world to themselves but adjust to the flow of life, riding on its wave of flexibility and dynamism.
These people are not unnecessarily disciplined or difficult but they have standards borne out of their perceived values and vision for life. They have boundaries in every aspect of their lives which do not restrict them in anyway but give them the focus and clarity to expand these boundaries, taking over all aspects of their life. Standards will not make our life restrictive, rather it will make it organized and directed towards purpose and meaning.
Anyone can create standards but it is consistency in practice that make it embedded in our personality allowing more people to interact with us irrespective of our differences. Those who are consistent with their standards could be picky but they will not be difficult.
If you do not watch television or you do not eat meat, you have created standards through which a lot of people have identified you with. We are written in standards most of which we are not conscious of. Many of our actions are subconscious, borne out of habits. We can not be conscious of all deeds but we must be aware of those actions and preferences that affect our lives in monumental ways.
In life , business and relationships, we identify with people with different taste and outlook on lives as long as they are always predictable with their standards. Those that makes standards difficult are the ones without stable standards.
Standards can be altered for many reasons but the better thing is to have some and stick with them. This is how not make your life difficult. I wrestle with bad habits everyday just like you but I know that without standards, my freedom will become irresponsibility and soon I will lose the freedom I so much cherish.
You want your life to be less difficult? Set standards.
