Why Do People Often Feel Life is so Hard?
Many people have told me that life is tough and that simply living can be a demanding endeavor.
I have seen so many people who voice dissatisfaction with their lives but never take action to alter their circumstances; instead, they resign themselves to their current situations. And they always utter the same old song and dance in dismay, “Why is life so hard?”
What fascinates me the most is that numerous people around the world work 5 days a week at a job they hate with a passion. Why don’t they just quit these jobs and pursue their lifelong dreams instead? This is because they are worried about money and losing a certain security of their lives, and afraid of taking a risk to leap into an unknown life. Is this cowering attitude toward life worthwhile to live? – I do not think so. Without adventures in one’s life, life will always remain a humdrum business.
Find What You Want to Do for the Rest of Your Life
From my own mistakes, I’ve come to understand that I can’t find happiness if I constantly dwell on life’s difficulties and unpleasantness. To truly thrive, I must relentlessly pursue my unique path and follow my heart’s guidance.
Spending 5 days a week at a job I despised solely for financial survival left me feeling deeply unhappy, depressed, and disheartened. I found myself repeatedly pondering, “Why is life so tough? Why am I dedicating my precious time to something I loathe, and what’s my purpose here?”
I firmly believe that if one finds what he wants to do for the rest of his life and follows his private destiny relentlessly, he doesn’t think that life is hard to live anymore; on the contrary, he will start living each day with joy, for he has a purpose in his life. Without a purpose in one’s life, he always thinks that life is so hard. It is inevitable. And most importantly, you have only one obligation to fulfill: You must realize who you truly are. Everyone has his own uniqueness, so you must embrace your own unique being and respect your individuality – that is the starting point to be happy. Once you have realized who you truly are, you will never think that life is so hard; you will helplessly fall in love with life.
Money Makes People Crazy
I described in Liberation: Seeking the Meaning of Life how I felt when I was being a slave and worked for the company I hated with a passion and how I endlessly felt that life was so hard and meaningless:
Working five days a week is constantly a dilemma for me because I do not believe in what I am doing. I have only one ambition – being a writer. I just want to enjoy my life and want to write books every single day. It sounds simple enough for you, but it has been so difficult for me to achieve.
I firmly believe that we have one primary obligation: to discover our true selves. Everyone has his own uniqueness, so one should discover his own unique being and respect his individuality. I’ve long held the belief that if everyone begins to explore what they genuinely want to pursue in life and lives in alignment with their individuality, the world will transform into a more enjoyable place to live, and people will find greater happiness. We might not be able to alter major things instantly, but we can commence by making small changes. Therefore, when one begins acting who he truly is according to his heart’s desire, he will be definitely happier every day. His happy soul will influence his neighbors and so on and so forth. It will be contagious. Eventually, this single individual happy soul will become a bunch of collective happy souls around the world, and then the world will become a happy place. Individuality is the starting point. It might sound silly, but I still believe in it with all my heart.
I just do not want to pretend to be someone else; I just want to be who I truly am every single day. However, it is difficult for me to be true to myself because of the Japanese society system. If I decide to be true to myself, I am perfectly sure that I will be fired immediately, with limited prospects of finding employment elsewhere. To get a job in Japan, I have to pretend to be someone else during a job interview and tell what they want to hear, but I do not believe any single word I utter, which is torture to me. It’s profoundly unsettling to me to voice things I don’t genuinely believe during job interviews; however, I have to if I want to get a job.
Working for a company demands adhering to the same pretenses. I must pretend to obey every single nonsense that my supervisor says, pretend to do what I am sick of, pretend to talk with my colleagues about how to improve job environments, pretend to smile when I want to cry with humiliation, pretend to be doing something when in fact, I am doing nothing, because in Japan even if you have nothing to do at an office, you have to pretend to keep occupied with something, otherwise, your boss is going to scowl at you for doing nothing; etc. I just do not want to pretend to be someone else anymore, but it is impossible for me as long as I stay in Japan.
Why do I have to pretend? It is very easy money. I have never comprehended the meaning of money because it seems just a piece of paper to me. Yet, the reality is that without money, I find myself unable to accomplish even the smallest tasks, as it seems that people invariably expect it in return for minor favors. This aspect of our societal system feels inherently flawed, as it necessitates that every individual depends on money for their very survival. Because of money, I have to pretend so that I can get a job to earn it. Because of money, I have to pretend to agree with my supervisor all the time so that I get paid. Because of money, I am humiliated, nervous, depressed, frustrated, vexed, insulted, melancholic, dispirited, anxious, distressed, agitated, etc. Money makes people crazy. Because of money, people make wars; because of money, people kill each other; because of money, women become prostitutes; because of money, people betray each other; because of money, people are suffering and hungry. Many of the world’s troubles seem to trace back to the influence of money. There was a time when I believed in helping others and challenging the societal system, but I’ve encountered the frustrating reality of widespread ignorance. Fighting against evil holds promise, but battling against sheer stupidity feels like a futile endeavor. I swiftly adjusted my focus, attempting to liberate myself from the nonsensical aspects of life, yet these seemingly insurmountable challenges continue to hold me tightly by the neck.
Face the Music
When I reached the point where I could no longer bear pretending to be someone I was not and recognized that my life was heading in a direction I didn’t desire, I decided to face the music: I talked to myself in earnest and determined to follow my heart to the end, no matter what. Here is excerption from Liberation: Seeking the Meaning of Life:
I am approaching PARCO. Without thinking, I am taking an escalator to ascend to the second floor, where there are balconies on both sides of the buildings with some tables and chairs arranged. As soon as I find an empty table, I let myself sit down. Out of desperation, I force myself to face the music. My heroes indeed took a long time to publish their first books, but they had constantly practiced writing, and contributing to magazines or newspapers. They had wasted millions of words to reach such masterly states. On the other hand, I always boast to everyone that I am a writer, but in fact, I have never written anything, not even a single line. I have let eight years elapse without any serious writing, except having researched books endlessly to find something to inspire me to get started. What is wrong with me? Why do I never try to write something seriously? I feel that I am a thoroughly useless and utter failure. However, I do not want to take a job again and waste my time anymore, for taking a job is not my aim in this life, and I cannot endure unbearable humiliation again, namely, pretending to be someone else. I know with all my conscience that I do not want to be like the rest of the Japanese and do not want to participate in daily frivolous Japanese activities.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay! Even if I am completely isolated from the rest of the Japanese and fight against them alone, I refuse to take a job again and refuse to pretend to be someone else and refuse to make false friends and refuse to bow before those I do not respect and refuse to smile at someone I hate and refuse to work for organizations and refuse to have a boss, and on top of it all, I refuse to contribute anything toward Japanese society. Even though I have still not proved myself yet, I know what I want from my life and know what kinds of life I do not want to lead. I do not believe in the Japanese government, education system, politics, or any kind of institution. In fact, I have nothing to do with them and also have nothing in common with them. I am a freeman! I think that any organizational groups do not improve me as a human being; on the contrary, they ruin my individuality, piece by piece. I prefer solo performances and prefer to sing my own music, even if I sing a little key off. Withal, I want to cultivate my individuality. I do not think that I have totally wasted my time, although I have not written anything, because at least I have been striving for what I want to be with all my might. That is something to me.
Think about frivolous Japanese; they are thoroughly aimless. Wherever they are, they always look at fucking mobile phones. Even on a train, idiots play online games, send unimportant messages like possessed, talk about trivial things aloud shamelessly on a mobile phone, etc. Where can I find such dolts except Japan? I want to know! Nowhere at all, sir! Their ignorance is beyond comprehension. In Japan, nobody knows of Knut Hamsun! One day, I made a pilgrimage to a bookshop to determine if his books were available. But alas, they did not have them, and, with a matter-of-fact tone, they informed me that his books were not translated into Japanese language. What a scandal! I was outraged because Japanese bastards do not show any proper respect for the greatest writer whose books have influenced many great writers in history. He had to deserve better. Instead of his wonderful books, the bookstore stacks a bunch of Japanese comic books! I see everywhere, even in a toilet, I am sure, that over fifty-year-old dolts are carrying weekly comic magazines under their arms! No wonder no Japanese knows of Hamsun, and no wonder they worship money and technology steeped down in the wrong direction. If they try to read Last Joy, they might be back to human beings again and might be saved. I am so ashamed of the fact that his beautiful books are nil to my own country’s people. I do not want to belong to this ignorable race!
One thing is transparent: Even if I am not able to write anything in the next ten years, I refuse to give it up because I know from the bottom of my heart that I am in love with writing. No woman ever gave me pleasure like the first time I laid my eyes on Mysteries. After every intense session with Hamsun, Miller, Hesse, or Dostoevsky, I cannot control my intoxication. I feel so alive, and I take a long walk in order to cool down my excitement. It is a wonderful time that I have passionately read their books to be instructed and educated; I have studied them assiduously, even line by line in order to figure out the magic of their writing. I have searched in them so that I can understand the meaning of life. I want to write like them, which is constantly in my mind. Even if I am not able to write like them, I know that I have something to say to the world. I have borne beautiful music inside me. Even if it takes me more than ten years to express myself, and even if nobody cares about my work, I must express myself. I do not care for anything anymore. If people say that I am bizarre because I hate my own country, I will just shrug my shoulders as if I defiantly said, “So what?” I am uncivilized and do not belong to any organizations. I belong to myself and work for myself: Solo performance is my virtue! I treasure my individuality to the heavens. I know that this is the right thing to pursue, and I know that I am right because my heart tells me so. I refuse to be finished until I sing my own song. I still have not had the slightest idea how to escape from my helpless tribulations, but let me sing my own song one more time: the last desperate effort!”
Change Your Life
I strongly recommend anyone who feels that life is overwhelmingly challenging to take immediate steps towards changing their circumstances before it becomes too late. Pursuing the life you’ve always envisioned demands time, immense courage, and patience, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor. In reality, it may take longer than you can anticipate, but I firmly believe, from the depths of my heart, that every individual should strive to live in this manner. And on top of it all, it’s crucial to relish the process of becoming your true self, to listen attentively to your heart, and to live in accordance with its guidance.
Here are 5 things you can do to change your life and avoid being in the trap of feeling that life is so hard:
- Find what you truly want to do for the rest of your life that will become your purpose. When you find out what you want to do for the rest of your life and start following your private destiny relentlessly, you will find a purpose in daily life and will feel alive each day.
- Stop thinking what other people think of you; start thinking what you think of yourself. Thinking of what other people think of you is wasting your precious time on this delightful earth. Ergo, start thinking about what you think of yourself, and then you will know what you should do to improve yourself to reach what you want to become.
- Stop working only for money and for merely surviving. If you detest your job, just quit your job before it annihilates your will and soul to chase after your dreams. Find a job you are passionate about, and start doing what you love every single day! If you do not have passion for what you are doing daily, it is tantamount to wasting your time.
- Be true to yourself all the time. If you pretend to be someone else to be pleased by everyone, stop doing it forthwith because you will be unhappy forever and cannot stop feeling that life is so hard. Don’t conform to the expectations of others, for you are a wholly unique individual. Therefore, you had better start showing your true color to the world and utterly become true to yourself all the time. If you become true to yourself all the time, people will adjust to you. If they don’t, it will be their problem.
- Enjoy being in solitude. Stop being a part of the herd. Even though I know that herd instinct is too powerful around the world nowadays, you need to cultivate your individuality to walk in your private destiny. You should find a certain time to be alone each day to understand yourself. If you are always a part of the herd, you will never be able to cultivate your originality and individuality, which means that you live in someone else’s life. And that is the precise reason for feeling that life is so hard.
