Suffering & Happiness

So, after a really long conversation with a good friend of mine, I was floored by the negativity with which some people live their lives. I had known previously, but was unable to convince myself, that people could really view suffering as the only virtue, the only way in which they can help others. This is so ridiculous that I want to laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of it. What is the point of human existence, if not to be happy? Isn't that the underlying goal of the actions of every man and woman? If you try to live your life not for yourself, but solely to make everyone around you happy, you will be miserable all your days. Misery breeds misery and the only thing accomplished by misery is to spread it like the disease it is. If everyone sacrificed themselves for the good of their fellow man and ignored their own happiness, the earth would be filled with miserable people. No one should ever sacrifice themselves for the good of others -- you should teach others how to be happy while maintaining your own goals and values. The moment that someone asks you to sacrifice YOUR life, which belongs to YOU and no one else, for their own happiness, is the moment you should turn your back on them. No one is capable of accomplishing anything by being miserable -- the only justifiable suffering is if it is part of a grander plan to make you happy in the long run. If you truly love and respect the people around you, the people who care for you, then you must know that they want you to be happy as well as themselves. The belief in yourself and the belief in your right to be happy is the belief in life -- the belief in self-sacrifice and suffering is the belief in death and misery. Your life is a precious gift -- whether given by some divine being or by mother nature, I know not -- but I do know this: it is not to be wasted by being miserable. If I believed in God I would think he'd be pretty mad at humans for throwing away their lives in this manner. I don't believe in God, though, and maybe this quote will help you understand why.

"The philosophy of Atheism represents a concept of life without any metaphysical Beyond or Divine Regulator. It is the concept of an actual, real world with its liberating, expanding and beautifying possibilities, as against an unreal world, which, with its spirits, oracles, and mean contentment has kept humanity in helpless degradation." ~ Emma Goldman

Joy -- the sheer, wonderful joy that every human being is capable of feeling -- whether at his accomplishments or his good deeds or his supreme creative power and ability -- is all that matters.

"The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Another issue which was brought up was the futility of life. What's the point of living in the moment if the moment is soon gone? This is also ridiculous. What's the point of living at all if you're going to ignore every moment that it takes place in? Love is a series of moments, being happy is a series of moments, joy is all too often temporary. To ignore these moments is to ignore life itself.

"Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed." ~ Corita Kent

If that is confusing to you, I'm truly sorry. If you believe that suffering and tragedy and other people's needs and values come before your own, I'm sorry. If you cannot take charge of your own life, your own destiny, why bother? I could quote all day, but I have one last one and then I'll shut up. It is the summary of my beliefs, said better than I could. I leave you with this:

"My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny." ~ Elaine Maxwell