Struggle

Comfort isn't the norm

Take a look around you - consider a spider catching a fly.

It’s a struggle to survive for both the spider and the fly: a horrible death for the fly and a constant scouring for food for the spider. The struggle is real. And it continues all the way up the animal kingdom.

Even the lions hunting gazelles on the Savannah - lions can go hungry, gazelles hate to be eaten. That’s life.

The only level of the animal kingdom where it might not be a struggle, it seems, is humans. But even then, struggle is the default.

It’s the way of the world, it’s designed into the world.

Entitlement

A big part of the problem with social media these days is people sharing their comfort. As though it is by default.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that’s the norm, as if comfort and a lack of struggle is a right, or is the expected experience of life.

It’s not - struggle is the norm, comfort is not.

When we fall into the trap of thinking that comfort is a right, but we don’t live that lifestyle, it’s easy to think there’s something wrong with our life.

It’s easy to think there’s a problem with us.

There’s not. It’s just the way of the world. It’s good and it’s right, and we should accept it.

Resistance is futile

I’m not saying we should go looking for struggle, but I am saying don’t resist it when it arrives. Embrace it as a normal condition of life. Something to be accepted, experienced, learnt from.

Also, it’s not to say we shouldn’t aim for comfort. Comfort is a good thing, and it often comes after a struggle.

(Image credit: Allen in our XEN Create team)