Imagine if everything we’d do would go smoothly and without any challenges. This would be a pretty boring reality.

We also wouldn’t feel as if we really deserve the result, which in turn would make us unhappy and miserable. That may be hard to believe, but it’s true - the highest rewards in life are the ones we get for defeating the most significant obstacles.

In essence, life is all about struggles and overcoming these struggles. Life without struggles is impossible, and even if it were possible, it would be meaningless.

We know that everything in the Universe has it’s opposite. There’s good and evil, hot and cold, stinginess and generosity, pleasure and pain, etc.

So, there’s no escaping any of these - but we can choose the way we react.

There’s a well-known quote from the 1987 movie Wallstreet. In that movie Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko describes greed, and it goes like this: “Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

I don’t know about greed, but I think this applies to the feeling of pain just as well. It clarifies in a sense that it shows us exactly the issue at hand.

We can usually find a lesson in it. If we would dig deeper and ask ourselves why do we feel the pain and why do we feel miserable, it may very well show us the solution - what do we need to work on.

But that’s for us to see or not see. It’s a choice we can make.

If we don’t get something we hoped, then usually, it’s because we don’t deserve it. It’s Universe’s way saying: “you’re not ready yet, do some more work.” And, it shows us exactly what do we need to work on.

It’s as if we’re really being tested whether we are worthy of the reward or not. Everything comes with a price. The Universe won’t give anything away for free.

KRISTJAN