Complaining Is the Key to Happiness

Your job sucks, you’re repulsive to the opposite sex, and the hometown team is still struggling. Life is tough, no?

The thing is, it’s even tougher when there’s nothing to complain about.

For, although we often dream of a paradise world where we merrily laze around enjoying transcendental relaxation all day, I often wonder what stiffs would really want to live in such a place. A place with no worry, no pain, and no suffering, yes, but, really, what are we going to do with ourselves?

You see, once you remove all the hardships from life, you’re honestly not left with too much. For without hardship, there is also no longer a path to accomplishment. Success is impossible if you can never fail, winning is impossible if you can never lose, and love is impossible if you can never have your heart broken. Is this really a paradise we want to live in?

Now, for those of you who doubt me, I ask that, for experimental purposes, you briefly create a world without the horrors of life. The best suggestion I can give on achieving this is go to your linen closet, clear it of anything that may be suggestive of pain or suffering, and, then, lock yourself in it for the next week.

Enjoy heaven.

What a beautiful statement. I agree with you. You can only appreciate lifes beauty and joy unless you know all the bad stuff too. Like the line in “The Awakening” by Katie Chopin Life is a monster made up of both beauty and brutality.

october rain

July 10, 2005

Sorry, but your glorious musings have already been mused before. You should read The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. It’s pretty interesting.

heatherette

yes I do believe I have had these same thought before, in exception for the linen closet idea. However, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve always had issues with “the perfect paragon”. Perfection is subject to change is it not. Perhaps I like my room messy, while others may object. Besides, we both know I rather like to complain

(do only read this at an appropriate time) XXX

Liyoness Rampant

That’s always been my own theory.

yes i still want to live in paradise

hah …and i thought this was going to be a serious entry.

If we had perfection we’d never have anything to hope for or dream of. We wouldn’t be able to fight for any cause, speak our mind about anything, or debate over any issue. Without opinions, complaints, desires, struggles, failures, successess we’d have everything we want. Complaining at least gives you SOMETHING to be passionate about. I’ll take the passion over the perfection. -DarkChrysalis

(Just realized I wasn’t logged in before I left that note. I am so intelligent today!)

howdarestthou

July 11, 2005

Same for the existance of organizations such as PETA and the like–if they were to actually rid the world of the problems they were fighting against, there would be no need for the organization in the first place. So, to wipe out the entire threat would be to destroy everything you stand for, which, unfortunately, could mean someone’s entire life. What happens when you reach all of your goals?

I suppose even though living in perfection seems not only boring but impossible, we must still strive for perfection. They say “practice makes perfect” and yet there is no perfect, but still we practice.

ryn: You’re spot-on. In fact it’s already happening. I spend my first few entries deliberately and carefully being shallow and crude and then ruin it all by writing a deep and thoughtful theme entry. I’ll have to swing back the other way on the next entry and separate the wheat from the chaff. Feels less like throwing hard work away with this approach.

living without suffering does not mean living without work ~ we would still have to take care of ourselves ~ but if we didnt have illness and poverty to worry over ~ couldnt we accomplish more? learn deeper truths? grow closer together?

I suppose life would be uninteresting if there were no hardship. However, I certainly wouldn’t take peace for granted for the time being.