Claim: Anything you achieve by working hard or making sacrifices becomes more meaningful.
Despite the sacrifice, big or small, the satisfaction of accomplishing such thing after “suffering” is the greatest satisfaction there is.
We often tend to value things more when we put in effort and dedication in pursuing or creating it. The “Ikea effect” is a great example of achieving happiness by working hard for it. When you assemble your own furniture, it's your pile of parts. That furniture now represents more than just a chair, a couch or a drawer. It represents your time, your attention, and your skill in creation, and therefore becomes much more meaningful; something you’re proud of and truly cherish.
This shows us how a simple act such as building your own furniture has the power of bringing satisfaction and meaning into your day to day life. I am not however stating that one needs to go through extreme cases of sacrifice or suffering in order to live a purposeful life, instead, I am encouraging those little acts of effort and hard work that build up that “happiness” or fulfillment in us.
Another great example of how sacrifice and hard work creates meaningful lives comes from the famous philosopher, Nietzsche. Nietzsche strongly believed in the importance of suffering. He states, “Without pain or misery life would be absurd and worthless.” If we constantly live our lives seeking happiness and only happiness then our lives become weightless. Without weight we can never truly experience what it takes to overcome a difficulty or challenge, we are so afraid of bringing in problems and limits into our lives that we avoid these complicated situations.
Many may argue and say: Why suffer when you can avoid certain problems and live stress free?
Well, these people are considered lazy. People like these believe that feeling good most of the time makes us happier, and the reason they think this way is because they have never experienced the satisfaction of accomplishing something after working hard for it. If we open ourselves to experiences that challenge us we slowly build up character and meaning. And with this meaning, we are able to carry out our journeys in life with a purpose.
Despite the sacrifice, big or small, the satisfaction of accomplishing such thing after “suffering” is the greatest satisfaction there is.
We often tend to value things more when we put in effort and dedication in pursuing or creating it. The “Ikea effect” is a great example of achieving happiness by working hard for it. When you assemble your own furniture, it's your pile of parts. That furniture now represents more than just a chair, a couch or a drawer. It represents your time, your attention, and your skill in creation, and therefore becomes much more meaningful; something you’re proud of and truly cherish.
This shows us how a simple act such as building your own furniture has the power of bringing satisfaction and meaning into your day to day life. I am not however stating that one needs to go through extreme cases of sacrifice or suffering in order to live a purposeful life, instead, I am encouraging those little acts of effort and hard work that build up that “happiness” or fulfillment in us.
Another great example of how sacrifice and hard work creates meaningful lives comes from the famous philosopher, Nietzsche. Nietzsche strongly believed in the importance of suffering. He states, “Without pain or misery life would be absurd and worthless.” If we constantly live our lives seeking happiness and only happiness then our lives become weightless. Without weight we can never truly experience what it takes to overcome a difficulty or challenge, we are so afraid of bringing in problems and limits into our lives that we avoid these complicated situations.
Many may argue and say: Why suffer when you can avoid certain problems and live stress free?
Well, these people are considered lazy. People like these believe that feeling good most of the time makes us happier, and the reason they think this way is because they have never experienced the satisfaction of accomplishing something after working hard for it. If we open ourselves to experiences that challenge us we slowly build up character and meaning. And with this meaning, we are able to carry out our journeys in life with a purpose.