Why is life so hard?

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. -Robert Frost






There are many different forms of the same question; some are just in more detail. Sometimes I will hear, “why is school so hard?”, “Why is finding a job so hard?”, “why is bringing up this problem with my friend so hard?” But the real question underlying all of these questions is, “Why is life so hard?”

Here I am. A senior in college attempting to answer this question…yay :) Some may deny me or hate my answer. Some may agree with me and think I’m one step down from God ::Wink, Wink:: But really I’m just a normal women trying to answer this question every day.

I read Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life a couple years ago and in that book I remember it stating that, “There is no growth without change; no change without fear or loss; no loss without pain.” (Pg. 220).

This is your journey. As you are reading this right now you are on a journey, THEE journey rather. I mean this is your life. Take a second and breathe that in. This is your life and you can do whatever you want with it. Cool.

In ‘The Christmas Song’ it claims that kids are from ages 1 to 92….so it’s really never to late to start dreaming like one :)

You are on a journey of growth. You will always see and hear new things. You will experience new thoughts and emotions. You will interact with the same people but in new and completely different ways. Every day you take in something new even if you claim that your days remain the same. You will interact with new people in new and different ways. In its own way, every day is unique! Your life will continue to be that way even in the days to come.

So life is hard. Life is hard for every one. I don’t care if you are rich. I don’t care if you are poor. I don’t care if you are starving. I don’t care if you are fat. I don’t care if you are a child and I don’t care if you are old. Obviously I care about these things but I don’t care if these are your excuses why life is so hard just-for-you. Life is hard for every one in a different way.

I could easily give out the normal self-help solutions and tell you to go connect with a group you can talk to or find close and meaningful friends. Or lean on your family more or finally turn to God during the hard times. But I won’t.

But why is life hard? That is the real question.

There is a movie that not only stars an amazing women but is a movie that exemplifies the, “why me” out look on life. The movie is called Last Holiday. This movie stars Queen Latifah as Georgia Byrd. Georgia is a cute, cautious, sweet, hesitant, choir-singing store clerk who, through her doctor, finds out that she only has three weeks to live. Throughout the movie we watch as Georgia learns to finally enjoy life to it’s fullest and come out of her shell at last.

She goes through a moment in the movie where she is crying out to God, “Why me!” She is constantly asking why God is allowing this terrible thing to happen to her. Queen Latifah’s acting doesn’t just come to her naturally but this, “why me” situation comes out of personal experience.

Queen Latifah’s journey has been tough from growing up in a single-parent household, living in a New Jersey housing project, to losing her brother in a motorcycle accident at 22. Her singing career had just taken off and as a present to her brother Lancelot (age 24) she bought him a motorcycle. Two months later he died in a motorcycle accident.

In an interview from 2006, Queen Latifah was asked about her Christian faith and asked if she ever had a, “why me?” moment in her own life. Here is what she had to say,

I definitely had a "why" moment--"Why us? Why my mom?" You know . . . "Why my dad?" When my brother passed away, that was definitely a "why?" I don't even know if it was just a "why me?" But it was surely a big old "why." . . . Especially at that age -- I'm 22 years old when this happened, my brother's only 24 -- and it's like, whoa. And I'm like, "Why [would this happen] to my mom?" She's such a good person. So, all of this stuff is running through my head.

Even Queen Lahtifah can ask, “why is life so hard?”

My goal is not to take away the focus of any one suffering but to give my own perspective. Maybe this is me trying to provide a window for some ones effort who’s trying to find God in the midst of a hard life.

Life is hard because that’s the way it is. From a sermon I heard two years ago the pastor said, “There's no reason that we should expect better. Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, cancer, HIV, starvation - these are naturally occurring events that need no explanation. The universe is random, so bad things happen. We should expect them and find a way to make the best of life anyway.”

Like I said before, life is hard for every one. Life is not only hard for bad people deserving exactly what they get, but also for the good people who, with their lives, honor God to it’s fullest. Also life is hard for good and innocent people, like babies with illnesses, and people thrown into a life of poverty.

Life is rough and even in my own story I can pick out little things of why my life that in other words has “sucked” at moments. But I will continue to love and live my life to the fullest. Others may easily go to blaming others for their problems or blaming the world.

But I really want to ask those people out there, what are you doing with your life to make it worthwhile through all of its crap and hardships?