Suppose a boxer is playing a boxing match where they are getting battered. Suppose they tell their coach, “This match is really tough.” And their coach replies, “Don’t be such a pessimist; thinking negatively will make you weak. Just keep fighting.” While negative thinking can indeed weaken them, failing to acknowledge their negative situation can weaken them more, for they will end up wounded by fighting a tough match with ineffective strategies. 

Life is often like a tough boxing match. We are hit by multiple blows; problems that seem unsolvable, people who seem unreasonable, and even passions within ourselves that seem uncontrollable. Yet if we state how difficult life is, the world often labels us pessimists. It chides us, “If you think like this, you will become weak; you need to just be positive, buck up and keep fighting.” 

Fearing such labeling, we choose to put on a facade of toughness. But that only subjects us to more of life’s blows. Rather than pretending to be tough, the Bhagavad-gita recommends an alternative strategy: pursue a higher purpose that toughens us internally. 

The Gita (09.33) acknowledges the world’s distressful nature and recommends the spiritualization of consciousness. That means we invest our consciousness in enduring spiritual things that bring meaning and purpose to our life. Life’s blows often hit the less enduring things that provide us material comfort and pleasure. If we are attached to those things, life’s blows wound us severely. But if we have learnt to redirect our consciousness toward some higher pursuit, that purpose toughens us; we become more ready to face problems when we know we are progressing toward something worthwhile. 

Thus, acknowledging life’s toughness can impel us to grow spiritually and increase our inner toughness. 

One-sentence summary:

Acknowledging that life is tough doesn’t have to weaken us emotionally; it can toughen us spiritually.

Think it over:

  • Why are we often reluctant to acknowledge that life is tough?
  • How can this reluctance harm us?
  • How can we deal with life’s toughness effectively? 

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09.33: How much more this is so of the righteous brahmanas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me.

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