Have you ever met a person whose life is perfect? Who hasn’t had a single misfortune or bad experience ever in their life?
I personally haven’t and I promise you there is no such person.
We all come to life, waiting patiently for a tragic turn of events. Ultimately, life leads to death; the one cannot exist without the other.
When bad things inevitably come in our way, how can we ensure that we get over them? This is a complex question that I have been struggling with for some time now.
Some people claim that positive thinking enables them to be mentally more prepared to face difficult life situations, by maintaining an optimistic attitude about life. While there have been some scientific researches defending a positive attitude on a molecular level, it is not proven that it can alter our reality. I do envy sometimes those who ooze with positive vibes, however I’m still a bit sceptical: what use is positive thinking when you lose someone close to you? Or when you find out you are sick?
Indeed, this may work as a placebo for some people, but there’s only so far you can go with a positive attitude.
No, no. I was looking for something else, something perhaps that can never make me succumb in the pressure of an obstacle.
Since I started watching Cosmos, I was overwhelmed with existential awareness – at first I called it existential crisis, but now I prefer to call it awareness because I acknowledged that our existence as human beings has absolutely no meaning whatsoever in a vast universe that regards us as nothing more than grains of sand – probably even less!
However, one thing is certain: we do exist in this world, and in this galaxy and in this universe. However small, we do exist.
Amidst this existential awareness, I began thinking of how to treat my life as an individual, to make this short, meaningless journey a bit more pleasant. I mean, since we are here, we might as well enjoy the ride, right?
This brings me back to my initial question: how are we supposed to deal with everything life hands to us?
Why not try and be like the tardigrades?
A tardigrade is a micro-organism, not visible with a naked human eye, smaller than the head of a pin. Tardigrades have been on earth long before humans even existed in the form we are today. They survived all mass extinctions on earth, and they can even survive in outer space. Even if they are left without food and water for years, they can still be alive. In other words, tardigrades are almost indestructible.
The resilience posed by this tiny micro-organism that has long exceeded life expectations is truly remarkable. It is the kind of resilience that I wish to achieve, on a philosophical level, that may be the answer to my question.
Resilience: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. (Oxford dictionary)
It is a general consensus that a (sane) human person cannot be in a constant state of happiness; after all, happiness is a state caused by various factors and for me, happiness is nothing more than moments and little things that spice up your otherwise boring routine.
The pursuit of happiness is a hoax. What we need is a different understanding of ourselves, one that does not place happiness, but rather resilience, as the ultimate goal. Our ability to stay strong in situations that would otherwise crush our spirit, and the attempt to grow a thick skin in light of failures, of misfortunes and of various kinds of obstacles. Resilience is a concept that allows us to acknowledge that no matter what happens, we need to keep our shit together, refusing to allow ourselves to be sucked in a constant state of fatalism.
Like all life speculations, this one is easier said than done. I did find, however, that my existential awareness greatly helped me in applying the concept of resilience in my daily life. In light of a misfortune, I tend to visualize myself in the universe, with the reminder that I am nothing less than a concentrated number of atoms. This realization is comforting, even liberating, because no matter what I do, I cannot change my significance in this massive world. So instead of allowing myself to remain down the dark tunnel of self-pity, I get back up and I find the strength to persist instead of being depressed.
Resilience has become my new life goal, and I know that this is going to be a difficult journey. How am I supposed to be in situations that are much more serious than the ones I faced so far? This is a question whose answer I do not claim to have, but sooner or later, I shall find out.