Sometimes I feel that ‘the way it should work’ is that as a young person, you will have illusions.
Stuff like, ‘talking with people makes them like me and that is important’ or ‘having a lot of money makes one happy’.
Living with those illusions will create frustration eventually [that is, if you are growing towards a more spiritual life]. Why that is [or not] I leave up to you to come up with.
Ultimately you will let go of your illusions, and then you are wise or enlightened or whatnot.
But in the meantime, frustration gives you mental muscle. It gives you something to strive for, to put your energy into. It gives you opportunity to learn discipline, and some people flourish in these circumstances.
Yesterday evening I saw an interview with Eddie Izzard on the BBC. What hardship has he known! Not because he had it so bad, but as he said it, because of his being stubborn, his singlemindedness.
In the end, he said that the reason why he did what he has done until know, is to get his mother back, who died when he was very young.
That baffled me some. I would say his mother will remain dead, no matter what he does.
But in light of that harsh logic it is, to me, all the more touching.
What a good reason to inspire him, to set him on a path of becoming a great comedian.
What things must he have learned. He said that the most important thing is that everything starts with believing you can do something or be something. You have to believe you can be an astronaut, if you want to become an astronaut.
Given the above, I think it is inevitable that you start life with illusions, misapprehensions, seeing things black and white.
And that is all right. No, it is necessary! You need it, because it will strengthen you, it will generate spirit.
I do wonder however, if this is a natural order. Can you skip on life’s lessons?
Can you, for example, early on intellectually know that things are not black and white and still grow or become wise? Or would that mean you would have less spirit? And is that consequently a ‘bad thing’?
I leave this post with the questions unanswered [for me].