There are a lot of things I have seen in this country, and there is one that doesn't sit well with me anytime I think about it. And this belief has become so, so deep in the minds of people that it doesn't even sound like a belief anymore. Now, some people see it as common sense. Some will even say it is wisdom and a normal thing to do. And what I'm talking about is if something came easily, it probably isn't worth much.
Some will even go as far as saying that if someone is not suffering, that means such person isn't serious. Struggling confirms commitment. And if someone is resting, then that person is failing or falling behind. I grew up watching some people say this around me; I read it on social media too. But thank God I finally recognized this as a lie wearing a responsible face.
And over the years, this thing has done some unimaginable damage that is not consistent. I have seen how some people shun or put aside a very smart solution that is very efficient and simple just because that particular solution comes easy and doesn't look hard enough the way they wanted enough.
These days. I have seen how someone legitimately working online and earning honestly without the general suffering of waking very early for the usual job. Where he wakes up very early, like 5am, and comes back home around 6pm, and the first response from family or society is suspicion. “Where are you getting your money from? It doesn't look legit because it looks very easy.” At that point, the ease itself always looks like a wrongdoing, evidently. Should I say so many people have that belief of no pain, no reward to the extent that they no longer trust intelligence? They see pain as the only way.
Countless times, I have honestly and personally fought this inside me. I remember when I was serving, and during one of the monthly meetings, one professor was trying to fix something on his system. I happened to be close by then, and he called me. Within a minute, I got it fixed. And the next thing he said was, “So fast, where did you learn that from? Because I had been trying to fix it before I got to the office.” Yeah, that question looks so harmless, but the way he said it, his expression made it look like I should also spend more time fixing it. At that moment, I genuinely felt guilty for finishing what he called me for quicky.
Sometimes, when I work with clients, I deliver the work before the deal day. Some will always say, “So quick.” Yes, so quick because it's my field. I know my work so well that I can finish on time. I don't know why people always believe that it should take longer just to prove or feel like I earned it properly. To me, that is not even wisdom. It is simply conditioning. I once read somewhere that suffering is the correct texture of real effort. Some writings can be so unbelievable.
I have been trying to protect myself and some people around me from also believing that or thinking that way in a way that I will never glorify struggle in front of them. When something goes as planned, I say it as it is exactly without adding “that work was tough” just to make it sound more worthy. I have so much believed that some things like having a good approach, strategy, and intelligence are not shortcuts because some things do not need me to suffer just to prove a point.
And I have checked around to see how some people have bowed to this pressure. People in the society tend to respect you more when they see that you are carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders and you are about to collapse. But this prompt has really opened my eyes to another thing in a way that, what can we say the exact problem is if the result is genuinely good and the process didn't destroy us? I'm still waiting for a very convincing answer.
Thank you for reading.
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