3. Urgh, that's a bit unnecessary

We all just want a bit of an easier life, don’t we?

Alarm clocks, difficult people, general daily stresses, and 2020 scuppering all of our plans can often feel a little unnecessary. We crack on, but do have a tendency to see these disruptions to our peace as a bad thing. Any tension as an inconvenience.

You may be happy to know that I’m not going to say some sort of airy-fairy drivel like “though if we just think positively then we'll be eternally happy!!!”. We’re humans, we have emotions, we have bad days, we have setbacks, so that’s kind of a load of shite.

Instead, this is more of an acknowledgment that often, a certain degree of hardship and tension can eventually end up serving us well. And I suppose a recognition of this is something that I've found to be quite helpful in diluting some of the frustrations that inevitably show up in life. And I'm sure we can all do with less of those!

This possibly goes against what we may intuitively think, but if life was all too cushty, we’d probably just end up getting bored.

If we were to constantly play a video game on ‘Easy’, we’d soon want to go up a level. Once we’ve driven around Luigi’s Raceway enough times, we'd be craving a slightly tougher course... a Yoshi’s Valley for example.

After a while, in any aspect of life, we tend to get fed up when things become just a bit too easy, and seek harder, more testing challenges. In fact, I’m almost certain that ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was referring to Mario Kart when he said “The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it”!

The oldest story of mankind is one of good against evil, and it’s only through the struggle and overcoming of adversity that the protagonist can flourish and eventually reign victorious.

We love that chat. It reappears in every book we read and every film we watch, and is a wider metaphor for life. We wouldn’t have liked Harry Potter if it wasn’t for Voldemort. And there’s a reason for Superman’s kryptonite.

This idea of adversity, challenge and competition being a fundamental part of human ‘success’ (however you wish you define that word) has lasted the test of time, and is prevalent across so many, if not all, areas of life. Here’s a few examples:

• The USA landed a man on the moon largely as a result of the Cold War against Russia.

• The NHS and European Union were both set up as a direct consequence of the Second World War.

• In business, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Apple wouldn’t be what they are without Burger King, Pepsi and Samsung.

• And in sport, Ronaldo and Messi continue to push each other on to new and ridiculous heights.

The list goes on, but the point remains the same. We don’t tend to welcome adversity, however, it’s often been the catalyst for many of the greatest feats, movements, inventions, works of art and general achievements throughout history. Franklin Roosevelt, the US president during WW2, put it up nicely when he stated “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”.

This principle isn’t just applicable to external events, but the challenges that play out in our own heads as well. The emotional adversity of destructive thoughts such as doubt, fear and insecurity can also be used and cultivated to achieve superhuman feats. Whilst we’re on a bit of a roll with examples, let’s have a look at a few more to showcase this...

• It’s commonly known that Beethoven totally revolutionized and transcended music, and is one of the most influential composers in history. Though it’s less commonly known that he was plagued with mental health issues. The dramatic mood swings he faced as a result of his depression and bi-polar disorders helped inspire the intense swings and tempo of his music.

• Virginia Woolf, one of the most celebrated authors in history, spent a lifetime battling severe depression. However, these struggles inspired and manifested themselves in a large number of her most loved characters and novels.

• Rafael Nadal won his 13th Roland Garros last weekend, which is just silly. In the brilliant BBC documentary ‘Strokes of Genius’ showcasing his rivalry with Roger Federer (big shout out to my man Fed!), Nadal states that “I believe doubts are good, never considering myself good enough and always having that doubt constantly pushes me to improve”.

Beethoven, Virginia Woolf and Rafael Nadal are, without question, some of the most revered figures in history, and not just in their respective fields. In each case, it was their mental challenges that helped fuel their genius - and it could be strongly argued that without this emotional adversity, they wouldn’t have reached such stratospheric heights.

Challenge, tension, competition and unexpected problems form part of everyday life, we all know that, that’s just human nature. Especially this year, where we've had a bit of a shiter.

However, the historically recurring pattern of adversity often leading to triumph can provide a glimmer of hope and reassurance when we're going through testing times... and we're all certainly having our fair share of those!

So, as opposed to removing all sadness, frustration and tension from our lives (as social media, and society as a whole, often implies we should), it may help our cause if instead, we aim to embrace the storm, and have a wee peak at the silver lining above the clouds - which is sometimes an opportunity for us to learn, grow and, to stick with the weather analogy, shine.

And that always feels pretty good.