Why Do Most People Feel That Life Sucks?
In all my life, I have endlessly thought about why we cannot simply enjoy our lives every single day. Life is a one-time journey, so we are supposed to enjoy our lives; however, most people are not able to enjoy their lives because of their never-ending jobs. If you have a job you are passionate about, you will be happy and enjoy working every single day.
Lamentably, most people are doing what they don’t like every day to earn a monthly salary. I strongly believe that you should stop doing what you don’t like forthwith since life is extremely short and cannot wait until you are ready to take a decisive step. As long as you continue doing what you hate for money, you will forever feel that life sucks. This is a simple fact, nothing more and nothing less.
Life Becomes a Humdrum Routine
If you do what you detest every single day, life will become a humdrum routine and unbearable for you. This is simply inevitable. People who work 5 days a week at a job they hate often find themselves wishing for the week to conclude swiftly and yearning for the weekend to arrive sooner. And when Sunday evening starts creeping into their hearts uninvitingly, they will often start sweating and feeling depressed, for they don’t want to face Monday morning, which marks the start of another workweek they’d rather not endure. People often shout apropos of nothing on Sunday afternoon, “Jesus! I just remembered tomorrow will be Monday! I have to go to a job again! Damn it!” “What a comedy,” I think to myself every time I hear this universal pandemic.
Here are the reasons why people often feel that life sucks:
- Most people just go to work and take days off on the weekend. The weeks seem to pass by swiftly, like smoke, and they find themselves stuck in the same monotonous routine until their retirement.
- Most people want to take a vacation to feel a sense of freedom deep within their hearts. However, they hesitate because they fear that taking an extended break might result in their company filling their positions with someone else. The fear of losing their jobs prevents them from taking the risk.
- Most people constantly experience boredom with the routine of taking lunch breaks at the same time, dining at the same places, and interacting with the same colleagues day in and day out.
- The problem is that not everyone has the courage to take a huge step. Fear of job loss and the loss of security hold many individuals back. The reality is that not everyone can readily embrace taking such risks.
- Most people give up even before they start fighting for their dear lives.
- Most people just accept the modern society system without questioning whether they are suitable systems or whether they bring happiness to them.
- Most people are unwantedly trapped by the modern society system and undesirably conclude that life is a humdrum routine.
- All pessimistic thoughts are in the mind; people create boredom and fear in their minds themselves.
Start Enjoying Your Life
I know that it is easier said than actually done. But I have to say this: If you do not like your current job and feel depressed, you had better quit your job forthwith and start finding what you are passionate about. If you despise your job, escape from it immediately since its environment will destroy your life completely. Life cannot wait for you to be ready to quit your job. So just do it, then new opportunities will come in your life that you have never expected.
If you feel that life sucks, please consider the following suggestions:
- Life is only a one-time odyssey, so it’s wise to savor every moment and relish each day to feel truly alive.
- Life is only a one-time voyage, so you should try to live your life according to your heart’s prompting.
- You can feel alive each day when you ultimately let yourself walk in your private destiny wholeheartedly.
- Everyone has a second chance; everyone can be liberated if they sincerely want to be redeemed from the bottom of their heart.
- You had better recognize that you can unlock the fetters any time you want, for the key is invitingly dangling before your
- You should forget what you’ve failed to achieve; you should forgive yourself and start doing only one thing: What you’ve always wanted to do.
- It does not matter what you’ve done so far; it does matter how you look at the future.
Pessimistic Thoughts Make You Paralyzed
Many people, despite disliking their jobs, are fearful of losing job security and are hesitant to take risks. However, if you let fear prevent you from taking risks, your life may lack adventure and become a mundane routine. Don’t let pessimism govern your life; dare to take risks and embrace the joy of living.
I described in Liberation: Seeking the Meaning of Life how I take a risk all the time:
“Life is only one time, Mr. Kura, so I want to enjoy my life to the fullest and want to feel alive all the time. I know if one has a good job, he tends to stay at his job as long as possible because it makes him feel secure and protected. In addition, in Japan, if one has a job, it’s almost impossible for him to take a long vacation unless he decides to quit his job. That is why everyone doesn’t take a vacation; everyone works hard throughout a whole year without taking a rest and without the joy of life. I don’t think it is called life. I’m sorry for expressing my opinion boldly, Mr. Kura, but I really think the majority of Japanese don’t have their own lives, and they can’t enjoy their own lives because of their never-ending jobs. They just go to work and take days off on weekends. A week quickly passes without doing anything, like a smoke. They are continuing the same dull routine until their retirements. I presume they always think life is a humdrum continuation; however, I like my life so much and have enjoyed my life more than anyone else, although my life has always been upside down like a rollercoaster.”
Here, he interrupts me by saying, “I’m sorry, Mr. Onoe. Give me a second.” And then he calls his colleague, “Ms. Kato, could you look for the flight ticket for Mexico on November 27? Mr. Onoe specifically wants you to look for a year open ticket so you can decide when he returns because he is going to change the return date over there anyway.”
He is looking back at me again. “Sorry, Mr. Onoe, now she is looking for your ticket,” he apologizes and expresses his feelings, “I’ve been immersed in your talking, so I forgot to do my duty. Mr. Onoe, I really think you are an extraordinary person. I’ve always thought so. Every time you come here to buy a ticket, I enjoy talking with you enormously because you always enliven me with your fantastic experiences. I am forty-five years old now. I think I went to Australia twenty years ago, if I remember correctly. It was the most crucial experience in all my life. I really want to take a vacation to feel free again, but I can’t do it because I am afraid that as soon as I take a long vacation like you, they’ll give my position to another person. I don’t want to risk losing my job – that’s the truth. For that reason, I’ve decided to see the world again after my retirement.”
After a brief silence, he carries on, “However, I am constantly feeling bored with taking a lunch break at the same time, eating lunch at the same places, seeing the same colleagues every day. I am unsatisfied with my life, but I can’t change my circumstances because I don’t have enough energy left inside me. I guess I lost my enthusiasm for life and curiosity for life a long time ago. The worst thing is that I am accustomed to going through the same routine without any uneasy feelings, and I can no longer see the other way of life either. You know, human beings have the ability to adjust to any kind of circumstances. It is quite a dangerous ability, isn’t it? To be earnest with you, I envy you, for you are free like a bird and seem not to worry about anything. Mr. Onoe, you are a special person, because everyone wants to travel around the world without worrying about anything; everyone wants to take a vacation to enjoy their lives; everyone wants to take a risk to have some great experiences and adventures. However, the problem is that not everyone has the courage to take a huge step like you. Everyone is afraid of losing their jobs and afraid of losing their security. The truth is that not everyone simply can take a risk, including myself. But you can do it, and I suppose it’s an admirable gift for one to have great courage like you.”
Here, Ms. Kato approached us with the confirmation for my flight, “Here is your itinerary, Mr. Onoe. I think you know of Mexico better than me, so as usual, I have nothing to explain to you.”
“Thanks for everything, Mr. Kura. I am so excited about my new odyssey. You said just before that I have great courage, but to be candid with you, I am afraid of taking such a great risk, like everyone else. However, my anticipation of a new experience overcomes my weakness. If I start thinking about money, job, security, and such superficial things, I can’t do anything in my life because pessimistic thoughts make me paralyzed from taking any actions. Therefore, I’ve decided to be worried about such trivial things when I am in Mexico since it is silly for anyone to think about what hasn’t happened yet. Besides, I guess that sort of thinking is the worst way to waste time in one’s life. I trust God, and I always pretend not to be afraid of anything. Such is my way, Mr. Kura.”
He is standing up to wish me luck, “Mr. Onoe, I hope everything will be satisfactory for you in Mexico. Also, I believe you can have incredible experiences over there. Thanks for the wonderful chat you always give me. Have a good trip, Mr. Onoe.”
You Have the Right to Choose Your Unique Path
Most people think about what other people think of them and are afraid of being different from everyone else, which is the most dangerous curse that society puts on their lives, I believe. If you always think about what other people think of you, you will forever feel that life sucks.
Of course, life sucks because you allow someone to make a choice for your life; you don’t choose how you live according to your desire. Remember, you have the right to choose your unique path and sing your own song at the top of your lungs throughout your entire life. And you had better walk on your own private destiny, come hell or high water, for your sake.
Here is a description of how glad I have decided to walk on my private destiny ultimately in Mexican Rhapsody: Having a Second Chance:
I installed myself on the couch and looked at the ceiling for a while. And then I fell to thinking if I had made the right choice seven years ago. Yes, I had the chance to graduate from college and transfer my credits to a university. I might have a good job and might have a good salary now. But is that everything? No, I do not think so. I admit that I have nothing now. I do not have a job, do not have income, do not have any title, or have any resources. Do I regret the choice? Nope – I do not regret anything. I still think that I made the right choice. Now, I am doing what I love every day and enjoying my life.
All in all, I live my life in my own way and feel alive each day. I have no regret that I walked out of college so that I could live an artist’s life. Apparently, the artist’s life is not easy, but this is who I truly am – I just follow my heart. Aye, everyone has the right to choose his path. Life is only one time, so we should try to live our lives according to our heart’s prompting.
You might say, what will happen if you fail? Nothing will happen, my pessimistic friends. You might fail many times, might lose your courage, might suffer from ruthless insults, might undergo awful depression, might endure melancholic periods, and so on. So what? I assure you that even if one falls into the bottomless abyss, he is still alive unless he voluntarily extinguishes the torch of his enthusiasm for life. If we do not let ourselves take a risk, we will never have devastating emotional experiences. Besides, you can always learn something from a defeat. On top of it all, we can feel alive each day when we ultimately let ourselves walk in our private destiny. Forget what other people think of you, stop listening to what others say, do not let others control your life, and do not let others manipulate you to make a wrong choice. Ask your heart first, follow your heart faithfully, and sing your song in your own tune at the top of your lungs, which all mankind should do!
Everyone Has a Second Chance
If you don’t feel alive and enthusiastic about what you are doing every day, it is time for you to consider changing your circumstances in earnest. If you don’t, you will forever feel that life sucks.
Life is fun to live if you live your life according to your heart’s prompting and follow your heart. Stop accepting a circumstance that you don’t like; if you don’t like it, please change it immediately. Nobody can change it for you; you are the only one to be able to change it. If you feel that life sucks, please stop procrastinating and change what you don’t like before it will be too late.
I would like to end this song with Jorgito’s famous speech in Mexican Rhapsody: Having the Second Chance:
Here, he suddenly drains the bottle of water with undue aggressiveness, springs up as swiftly as Achilles, and walks gravely towards the window, as if his eyes are cast on the Trojan hero Hector. He is staring at the blue heaven remorsefully for a while, as Odysseus thought of his home, then begins his discourse as though he were performing his soliloquy before invisible audiences: “You know, amigo, I’ve been having quite a difficult time since I turned my back on the stupid job. Please don’t misinterpret this, Shogo; I’m so glad I’ve become independent and stayed away from stupid society systems. However, I feel uneasy and worried about my economic circumstances all the time. I’m no longer paid every month, like when I was a shameful slave; I only receive money twice a year – that’s why I’m constantly anxious about selling houses and feel obliged to take care of many things at once. To be candid with you, I’m still not satisfied with my situation, but I feel alive and enthusiastic. On top of it all, I’m glad I’m no longer a slave and thank God at sunrise every morning for being able to unlock the fetters from my feet. You know, Shogo, I’ve realized that everyone has a second chance; everyone can be liberated if they sincerely want to be redeemed from the bottom of their heart. Most people give up even before they start fighting for their dear lives. Do they enjoy being a slave, or are they afraid of being different from others? Or don’t they simply have enough courage to let themselves walk in their private destiny? I guess that they just accept the modern society system without questioning whether they are suitable systems or whether they bring happiness to them. And to cap it all, they’re unwantedly trapped by the modern society system and undesirably conclude that life is a humdrum routine. Boredom puts fetters upon the imagination. They’d better recognize that they can unlock the fetters any time they want, for the key is invitingly dangling before their eyes. You know, all pessimistic thoughts are in the mind; they create boredom and fear in their minds themselves. They should forget what they’ve failed to achieve; they should forgive themselves and start living their lives according to their heart’s prompting. It does not matter what they’ve done so far; it does matter how they look at the future. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that right now, I can calmly look at my future and patiently wait for my new world to come. As the sun never fails to rise, I am sure that I’ll hit the spot someday somehow if I keep on ascending invisible ladders toward the bright light and never give up.
Moreover, I’ve already gone too far, so I can’t return to my miserable old life again. I can no longer picture that I work for a company and work under a stupid boss on a goddamn tight schedule. No, amigo, that humiliating life is finished in me for good. I’ll never be a slave again!”
