Why We Persist
Where does our meaning come from?
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We each have an ideal image of what we see as the best possible scenario our lives could take. We make decisions based on reaching those goals. In order to be successful, our short-term decisions must lead up to long-term ones. That’s why research is important.
Last year, 2021, my goal was to eliminate anxiety, reduce stress, and stop worrying so much. Early 2022, I achieved the most important part of that goal — to place more power into what I know and not what I think could be the case. Often my assumptions are wrong and cause me to worry needlessly in the first place.
I want to keep living and doing what I do because it gives me an inner sense of satisfaction. I want to learn about myself and what I should do to make the right decisions in the future even though things might not be the way I would have ideally wanted them to be right now.
The trick is to be patient and put forward our best selves at every moment. We can only just be who always set out to be and live fully as that person. If we do not take care of ourselves, we cannot treat others with the respect they deserve. To make others happy we must maintain happiness ourselves.
To keep going, we must decide that what we see in this world is worth the effort we put in. Is there anything we would love to come true and is that worth the struggle and toil it takes to get there? Could we in fact get through life taking nothing seriously and then finally, everything magically falls into place? I thought so for a while, but there are always things that matter to me more than I matter to myself.
There is something I must do or something I must say at any time of any day to reduce pain and suffering in myself. Part of it is engendering self-growth and self-development. Others are using the resources I have to learn more and with that knowledge, progress as human beings.
I am lucky enough to not have to worry about much. At this point in my life, in contrast to how things used to be, everything is fine and I am grateful for how far I’ve come. I persist because it’s the only logical thing to do and because I am happy enough to do it. It takes less effort because I have inner strength, even though at certain moments I am all but falling apart. The struggle and the fight, that is human, and why we must be there for each other as we go through life.
Aimee Sparrow is an author, applied philosopher, and mathematician who has been living with a mood disorder for more than a decade and advocates for happiness and inner peace. She is the author of Lunacy. Follow her website for more details.
