Life is work (and other certainties)

Pain, Uncertainty, and Work

My biggest take-away from the documentary “Stutz”, is that we can trust life to offer us three not so great things: Pain, Uncertainty, and Work. These are promised to you. You will endure pain. You will faced with uncertainty. And, oh boy, you will work!

The key to surviving, though, is to know in advance that these inalienable rights are coming your way. And stop trying so dang hard to avoid them.

Don’t fool yourself

There’s a tendency for humans to believe that we can rid ourselves of these things. Even though we’ve all endured them in the past with regularity, we fool ourselves into believing that the future holds an easier life. Like, “hey, if I read a couple more self-help books, maybe I’ll never feel pain and I’ll be confident in every situation I encounter or decision I need to make, and life will be a breeze of hammock-sitting and Piña Coladas.” Or, even simpler, we just don’t think about it at all and go on living.

We assume life always trends upward toward care-free simplicity, and it may sometimes seem that way, especially in the soft cushioning of your youth, but it does not.

It’s OK. This is expected.

While none of use can alleviate Pain, Uncertainty, and Work from our lives, when we stop struggling against them, they become easier to endure.

Know that things may be good now, but you WILL experience pain in the future.

Know that most life events and decisions need to be experienced with uncertainty.

Know that living life, even living a “good” life, requires work and more work.

When we stop believing we can live a pain-free life without having to work hard or endure not knowing with finitude what lies ahead, getting through the hard stuff feels a lot easier.

Remind Yourself

Print this out and hang it on the wall in your work space. Look at it often to remind yourself that it’s ok, this is expected.

11” x 17” Poster