I’ve been reading a bunch of Nietzsche lately.  If you’ve never read any of his works, he can be a bit obtuse.  It’s not that you have to be really smart to understand him; you have to have a certain ‘vision and ears’ to see and hear the way he does.

I’ve read every single published english language version of  his works, and most several times.  I was reading thus spoke zarathustra again the other evening, and this passage, which has struck me like a heavy mallet before, resonated:

They meet a sick man, or an old man, or a corpse [Editor’s note: the three sights that, according to Buddhist tradition, first set the young Buddha on the path to renunciation] — and immediately they say: “Life is refuted!”

But only they are refuted, and their eyes, which see only one side of existence.

Shrouded in thick melancholy, and eager for the little casualties that bring death: thus do they wait, and clench their teeth.

Or else, they grasp at sweetmeats while mocking their childishness: they cling to their straw of life, and mock at their clinging.

Their wisdom speaks thus: “He who remains alive is a fool; but we are all such fools! And that is the most foolish thing in life!”

“Life is only suffering”: say others, and do not lie. Then see to it that you cease! See to it that the life which is only suffering ceases!

Now, reread that passage THREE times before you go on…

How many religions fit this mold.  The buddhists, christians, muslims, etc, etc, etc….  they each teach us to downplay the flesh and to seek for something ‘real’, by which they mean something you can’t touch, see, smell, hear or taste.  invariably, it’s something THEY hold the secret to and THEY can tell you all about.  Flesh is bad, and spirit is good for them.  In short…

“LIFE AS IT IS IS DIFFICULT AND THAT DIFFICULTY POINTS TO THE FACT THAT LIFE SUCKS!!!”

BULLSHIT!  Life is not bad, it’s not ALL suffering, it’s not something you tame.  Life is ALL we have.  Rather than accepting and embracing life as it is and LIVING it, so many pretend it’s a dress rehearsal for something better.

“Well”, you might say, “what’s wrong with that?”  Well, nothing, if you want to miss out on the only 80 years you have on this planet.  Nothing, if you want to devalue all that makes this life good.  Nothing, if you can’t get past your childish crying and moaning because you can’t live every day in plush surrounding and with no pain at all.

Pain, suffering, heartache, etc are what makes life worth living. Imagine a boring, perfect, and painless existance.  What a bore!  Those who are strong LOVE the pain, not in sado-masochistic abandon, but in the same way a good student loves a difficult book to read:  the harder the text, the more fulfilling the treasure that’s gained.

So, in short, GROW UP!  Suck it up and LOVE your life.  Live it like you had to live it AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN.  Only then can you truly live your life from a center of strength, power and will.  Accepting and LOVING our lives creates a strong center.  When we cry and bitch and moan, we lean to one side or another and we fail to be rooted in ourselves.

Root yourself in yourself.

Brett