# An Unexamined Life and Suffering By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-10-21 To find meaning in the suffering one must actively pursue it. Alternatively, one could pretend the suffering doesn't exist via constant distraction and living an unexamined life. If you are lucky, you'll not encounter something particularly horrible that destroys your house made of straw. In all likelihood, suffering will find you in the end. What difference is there between those who ignore and those who mindfully come to peace with the way of the world? Are they entirely different? To an outside observer, they may look the same. Both appear to live in the moment; accepting fate and not overthinking it. It's a weird journey to think that self-actualization could return you to the beginning state. However, the internal transformation is the difference. It becomes externally apparent when the suffering inevitably comes. When times are good, both groups of people look the same. But when times become bad, one group continues and the other begins to falter. A certain strength is gained when one examines their life and establishes their place in the world. What can be controlled and what can't comes into focus. What one believes becomes differentiated from the truth. Feelings transform from instinct to insight. This journey is not perfect nor ever complete, but it is transformative. As comfort rises in the world many people spend less time thinking about their meaning and purpose. It's easier than ever to physically survive, so people have ventured away from classical systems of meaning such as religion, philosophy, and families. As we do so, we become less human and more animal. In summer animals thrive, but winter brings brutality. If the last 100 years have taught us anything, it's that humanity is more than capable of doing unthinkably dark things. Things that perpetuate unthinkable suffering. Finding meaning can help you survive in these conditions and maybe help others have a little less suffering as well. #### Related Items [[Man's Search for Meaning]] [[Existential]] [[Beliefs]] [[Truth]] [[Comfort]] [[Disasters]] [[Living]]