Why is Life Cruel

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

Just remember when ever you think you've got it bad, there's always someone out there who has had it worse.

I like this philosophy. I might be an optimist, but I don't think life is cruel at all. Life is cruel sometimes, but most of the time life gives you pleasures, either long-lasting or short-lasting. But you have to choose the right decisions that's all, and that often involves prioritizing long-term benefits over short-term benefits. That's just my view.

 

[West Mains]

Or you could, you know, read the whole thing I wrote.

Seeking psychiatric care or therapy is something YOU do, it doesn't come to you. And if its necessary to do for you to be happy, then that is the direction you need to go. Its still taking responsibility for your own happiness.

And therpay is like McDonalds. You walk in and buy a happy meal and get what you need and go. Its just that simple.

Oh and I was being sarcastic. 

 

[Chrome]

@West: If you want to believe that one cannot control ones emotion/fate/destiny then its fine.

When times are tough or even unbearable; don't give up. This here is a beautiful poem that can help you get through hard times and realize that its you that is in control.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Those last two lines is something that I live by. 

 

[West Mains]

I don't need no poncy captains to keep me happy. I just think about how we're all billions of years old and made of stars. Science is way more interesting and poetic.

 

[Mon Dez]

Pretty much this'll help sum things up for those that think life treats them unfairly and they believe they are the most unfortunate person in the world:

Spoiler

 

[Taien]

Every situation in life you choose how you react to. You don't pick what comes at you sometimes or where you end up always, but how you then react to it, you always pick. Somethings can trigger us to see them as cruel, but you could look at a thing you think cruel (even the extreme examples you are probably about to post) and define it in a hundred different ways, 

When I started to realise this, the arguments I was having with close family members didn't exist anymore, as I realized the arguments needed me to exist . From that point on in my life, I didn't argue unless it was something I felt I needed to hold my ground on (protecting someone or myself for example).

You can take your flaws and build your life inspiring others how to better them.
You can take your flaws and drink yourself stupid every night to forget them.
You can take your flaws and cry about them all day.

You can take your flaws and realise they make you - you could say everything was there for a reason, every problem or challenge motivating you in a direction.
You can take your flaws and make them the topic you tell everyone about, either to get advice how to fix them or just to moan and never change or do anything about them.

Now to Cruel:

You can take the cruel things and see them as something you personally are going to never let happen again, it can be a cause and an inspiration. 
You can label them anyway you like, its all on you.

Is life cruel - if you define it as such, yes.
 

 

[Eschaton]

Whenever you think life is cruel, just remind yourself that your problems are -9/10 times- First World Problems.

Remind yourself that you are not starving, you're not sleeping outside freezing your balls off, and are not going without access to the infinite wisdom and knowledge that is the internet.  You're not being hunted or persecuted by a theocracy or otherwise oppressive regime.  You're not being lynched or otherwise murdered because of your faith or the color of your skin.

Unless these things are happening to you, in which case... yes that does suck...

 

[Galenmereth]

I've never been a fan of the "someone else has it worse" mentality; it's not productive. Rather, isn't it better to think of it like this: While it can always get worse, it can also always get better. Just as there is no end to the possible torments in life, there is also no end to the possible joys in life.


Why not reach for joy and happiness in all things. Use the bad as a springboard to get somewhere better. It's important to admit pain and depression, but you should never dwell on it; it will give you nothing. It is a black hole from whence only more of the same will flow.


Only by knowing pain can we know true happiness. It is inevitable to feel pain and hurt, but it makes us stronger, and lets us understand what true happiness really is.

 

[BestsellingFictionPodcast]

The world needs more anti-nihilism - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheAntiNihilist

 

[West Mains]

  You're not being hunted or persecuted by a theocracy or otherwise oppressive regime.  

I'm from a poor background and I live on benefits. The UK government fricking despises me. They're after meeee manngggg

But yeah happiness isn't as black and white as "look, North Korea YOU MUST BE HAPPY. Mao! Maaaoo!!!"

 

[Kraikken]

I love this question, it is a pure and simple question with a complex answer that will have various interpretations.  It is infinitely as complex as the choices a person can make, what an individual does to prepare themselves physically and mentally for, as Eagle sagely put it, the indifference of the world.

But if I had to answer, Why the world is cruel, without being able to refuse the question, I would say it is cruel, because it must be cruel.  Without cruelty there is no conflict, there is less of a reason to motivate a person to achieve.  Would I go onto do great things because I had all that I desired at my finger tips?  No, not likely, that is the path to stagnation and stillness, the unmoving gaze of an empty vessel.

But that is not to say cruelty begets strength, or creativity.  Care, love and kindness create these things, empathy, fortitude, charity and humility are the enemies of cruelty who is the harbinger of hate, ignorance, greed and apathy.  Yet without cruelty, are strengths would lessen in a light with no contrast. 

 

[Eschaton]

I'm from a poor background and I live on benefits. The UK government fricking despises me. They're after meeee manngggg

But yeah happiness isn't as black and white as "look, North Korea YOU MUST BE HAPPY. Mao! Maaaoo!!!"

...wait, what?

 

[Napoleon]

We humans create our own heaven and hell right around us. It's all perception anyway. You can sit in a 3x2 room for 10 years with nothing and still be very happy. It's indeed just how the brain perceives it and how well you can control it as well as your surroundings. You can walk in the middle of a hot summer day with a thick jacket and still perceive it as a pleasant temperature, but not many people can do that.

 

[Redeye]

Politics ruin everything.

And a lot of us are just computer nerds who barely like to do other things than work on RPG Maker.

 

[West Mains]

...wait, what?

Sorry, I forget people don't have Tories in other places, so I guess that's hard to relate to.

 

[Eschaton]

What is a Tory?  Is it the same as a Progressive Liberal?

 

[Mon Dez]

I'll say this: There are those born with good fortune that have everything given to them and those with bad fortune that virtually have nothing.

There are those that win everytime and those that lose everytime. My problem with those that have good fortune and always win believe that they are gifted and deserve every single slice that life has to offer. If fortune falls from their favor then they believe that life is cruel in terms of their fortune being lost.

I am a person that always loses, but won once. I have been accustomed to bad fortune and I become stronger when I lose. I believe that everyone deserves experiencing a little misfortune in life so they can learn from it. Even if you are blessed with misfortune such as I, you should learn from that "bad luck" and improve yourself as a person.

I lost my $200 check, but all I did was shrug my shoulders and I learned to make sure I have it on me as tightly and secure next time.

I lose at everything, but that's what makes me strong. Every time I encounter "bad luck" I just laugh, learn, and live life.

 

[Cozzer]

Saying things like "life is cruel" implies you believe life somehow owes you happiness, and it's life's fault if you don't get it. This kind of thinking is exactly what kickstarts unhappines (or "life being cruel").

Stopping thinking about life (or God, or the universe, or whatever) as something that can be "cruel" is how you make life (or God, or the universe) not cruel. Of course, you can be lucky or unlucky, but the point is doing what you can do in your given situation, not comparing your situation to others.

I know, it sounds like self-help BS and it won't change the mind of the people who don't like or believe it. Still, I believe it's clichèd because it's true.

 

[SleetyHalfling]

Here's one way of looking at it, which I think is pretty interesting:

Happiness is relative to your own standards. If you want to be happy, you have 2 options -

1) Work hard to achieve those standards. Gives you something to work towards, which will be a nice distraction, and a short period of happiness if you obtain that goal. However, if you fail to achieve that goal, you will feel like crap. Even if you do achieve it, you'll almost definitely re-raise your standards and not have a great time of it.

2) Just lower your standards. "Don't worry, be happy"... I can't seem to manage to do this, but i admire people that can. A lot of my closest friends are these people. People that are happy just to be alive and talk to you... People that don't expect much, and so don't mind when they have a rough patch!

When you think about it, number 2 is the right answer. Not everyone is that way inclined, though, myself included!



 

 

[Eschaton]

Here's one way of looking at it, which I think is pretty interesting:

Happiness is relative to your own standards. If you want to be happy, you have 2 options -

1) Work hard to achieve those standards. Gives you something to work towards, which will be a nice distraction, and a short period of happiness if you obtain that goal. However, if you fail to achieve that goal, you will feel like crap. Even if you do achieve it, you'll almost definitely re-raise your standards and not have a great time of it.

2) Just lower your standards. "Don't worry, be happy"... I can't seem to manage to do this, but i admire people that can. A lot of my closest friends are these people. People that are happy just to be alive and talk to you... People that don't expect much, and so don't mind when they have a rough patch!

When you think about it, number 2 is the right answer. Not everyone is that way inclined, though, myself included!

A more cynical version of what you said would be, "there are those who accept, and those who achieve."