Through history, people have gone through it great deal of adversity-from slavery, the holocaust, and the Iraq war to our economic crisis today. Adversity, or as some may say struggle, is inevitable and unavoidable. The question that arises from overcoming adversity is value or meaning that comes from difficult times and/or catastrophic events. “ That which we obtain too easily, we esteem to lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value.”
Thomas Paine is reflecting his belief that people tend to naturally care more about things that come or seem easy. Any human being will value only what they struggle for. People do value for what they struggle because struggle means fighting with self ill confidence to achieve success “No pain, No gain. ” This is a cliche translated and used by almost everyone around the world. People always work hard to get what they this is valuable. It is either material goal, such as money or fame, or it can be material goal such as helping others or meditation.
However, people can find happiness or satisfaction from trivial things they encounter in life; they sometimes are also disappointed to find not a great value in things they did not strive for. People sometimes find little or no value for what they do not struggled for. During the middle ages, the pope sent hordes of Christian army under the name of Crusades to conquer back the land of Jerusalem. The hidden and main purpose of the war was to take Jerusalem drive Muslims out of the trade route so Europeans could take control of the trade with India.
However, although Jerusalem fell into Christendom, the Muslim empire of Turks were reluctant to give their way. Trade route were still blocked. For crusades, who lost tens of thousands of men from battle, disease, and malnutrition, their prospect was only their holy land, which was certainly a little value compared to what they sacrificed for. When was the last time you were delighted to get something you were ‘supposed’ to? For instance, how many of us would actually delight in receiving breakfast? Not me! What we do not struggle for, we take as granted — the most fundamental example being our own existence.
Rarely would one find somebody so conscientious, he actually valued the mere presence of himself. Why? Because one did not have to struggle to be born. Very unexpectedly, we attribute more value to something of such necessity, we anyways get it. Air to breathe, water to drink, are some more instances of existences having incalculable, and equally unperceived value as well. Hence, we only value what we struggle for.
As is again noticeable. How many memorable stories would we have read of love, achievement, success, anything! — that did not involve a struggle, an effort? And that was the only factor which gave it the value it attained. One would not measure the height of the fruit on the tree by a meter scale from the sea level, but by how hard one had to jump; or carefully one had to throw a stone, to get it. Say for example, a job. Many people will value a job rather than being a stay at home with lots of money because with a job comes self-pride. With self-pride there is always struggle or obstacles that one will face in order to become successful.
Many people would take being rich and not having to work for granted. As human beings that’s just natural because it comes too easily. If someone had the option to work over being rich, they would say being rich, because of the amount of stress and struggle they put into the job. But if they have ever worked before and was successful they would choice the job over being rich because they are comfortable in being just happy and they value the hard work they put into their job. To put things straight, people are always happy about only what they struggled for.
They do find a great value in things, which are trivial, and sometimes, things, which cost a lot. Give enough payback to those who tried really hard for it. It is true that people struggle for happiness, but it is also true that what people struggle for gives back happiness. If struggle somewhere is not happening then nine times out of ten that person is taking for granted anything they may have been given to them. Sometimes struggle or adversity is all you need to know that you truly value the thing that took so much effort.
