Death, that is — according to Shakespeare. I atypically remembered death when I was standing on my porch over the weekend. The nonstop, heavy rain drove a contingent of refugee slugs onto the porch where they sought shelter.
Watching them as they crawled up and down, I remembered that after all the pains of life, the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune, pangs of despised love, the law’s delay (in Shakespeare’s terms) — after all these life troubles, there will come a time when these little insignificant slugs and worms will shuffle off my corporeal frame and enjoy the taste of my flesh. And upon this gloomy remembrance, I wondered: What are we taking arms against the sea of troubles for, anyway? Or, simply, are life sufferings worth enduring?
Wait. Don’t get wrapped up in trying to discharge an uncareful answer yet. Existential problems like this one should be handled with caution. So let us find the root of the problem by asking: Why do we suffer in the first place? OK, fill in the following blank: “I suffer in my life for the purpose of ____.” If you failed to fill in the blank, then, yes, your life sufferings are worth absolute naught. And if you are one of those people who did not so much as even hesitate in providing the answer, then frankly you don’t even need to continue reading this till the end … Still here? Good.
The purpose of your life sufferings should be yours to create. What I can offer, however, is just a little clue for the clueless, of whom, of course, I used to be one. In determining the significance of your life, you should concern yourself with two things: a) the pursuit of “your” happiness and b) making a change. Anything (anything!) you do that does not fall under either or both of these categories is a mere distraction or self-created misguidance. Notice that the creation of your purpose is still yours — I didn’t dictate anything.
The pathways to happiness are as many as we are. The ways we can possibly effect change are countless. Your purpose will drift up to the surface when you figure out your passion, your pathway to happiness. But which of the two virtues should take a backseat to the other? Achievement of happiness or making change?
Without an iota of doubt, I say that pursuing what makes you happy should take precedence over any other business. The capacity for making change comes only from passion. I have yet to meet a person unhappy with his or her life who still has the energy to help others or make change. It is not narcissistic then to say that your happiness should be the supreme goal of your life. How can you help others if you can’t help yourself? So why not be self-centered a bit if it will make you become far more giving and generous eventually?
So again and again I repeat: Be happy first. If it takes you making a crazy decision, taking an unusual route or breaking out of a few norms, so be it! Not before you find your passion will you ever be able to make any change. Now I go back to the main question: Are life sufferings worth enduring? Definitely yes, but only if they lead up to a specific purpose, your purpose.
You don’t exist to suffer. You suffer to realize and achieve the purpose for which you were born. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the consummation devoutly to be wished.
Ahmed Seif is a graduate student in English literature.
