Doing hard things is worthwhile. Right?

Pushing yourself past your limits, learning new ideas, and having your beliefs challenged. It’s all hard, but it’s supposedly all worth it in the end. You’ll end up more fulfilled than the average person, more capable, and more wise. By giving it your all in your limited time here, you can die in peace, fulfilled and happy for a life well-lived.

Simple, right? But why is this true? Why does meaning arise from the struggle?

Where does meaning come from?

Difficult actions don’t have inherent meaning, but being able to do it well seems to say something. Climbing a mountain (especially a difficult one like Everest) is useless in its own right, but it is simultaneously a very impressive feat. I have no doubt that people who have climbed to the top feel an immense sense of satisfaction when they come back down. So where does the meaning come from? Is it from the struggle or something else?

Let’s say there’s now a cable car ride directly to the top of Everest. Would you still be fulfilled if you used that to reach the top? Maybe? Maybe slightly less than if you climbed it yourself? And what about all those countless medical breakthroughs? Do you feel fulfilled by them? Are you satisfied that if you get the flu, you won’t die within a few days? Do you feel fulfilled about being able to call anyone from anywhere in the world instantly or learning if 8161 is prime in a matter of seconds?

I would venture a guess that you aren’t fulfilled by such a fact. Or at least not significantly enough. But what if you had derived yourself whether or not 8161 is prime (regardless if other people already know it or not) or invented some vaccine that other people use? Would you have felt fulfilled? Would the second one have brought more fulfillment because it was more difficult? I don’t have answers, but maybe you can answer these questions.

The meaning is in the struggle?

If personal struggles imply fulfillment, would you call someone struggling to pay rent fulfilled? Would you call someone struggling with cancer or a debilitating disease satisfied with their life? Incredibly, yes! Cancer patients are happier than the general healthy population and people living in poorer countries are more fulfilled.*

Perhaps struggles build a sense of resilience. But more than just that. It builds a sense of self and your place in the world - a more nuanced understanding of you and your capabilities. You feel your muscles working, your heart pumping, and your mind and body reforging and reorganizing by your self-willed efforts. That, is being alive.

To be alive in the truest sense is to struggle. To experience pain. To suffer. To cry. To feel the raw emotions of despair and grief. Struggles give meaning - if there was nothing to work towards in life, why live at all?**

The takeaway?

The hard things give life meaning. Modern-day life, unfortunately, is too comfortable, so we must actively seek discomfort. Go for the most difficult classes, the most challenging projects, and the most uncomfortable situations, and embrace the discomfort. It’s going to be hard, but that makes life worth living.

(In retrospect, I’m not saying much, am I? Or maybe I’m trying too hard to find meaning where there is none. I don’t know anything.)

*These papers don’t prove anything about what I’ve said though. Poorer countries are also more religious, so they could find meaning there rather than in their present-day struggles.

**Okay, well religion also gives a reason or two. Maybe I should just stop being so analytical and believe that God exists? That’ll give meaning.