Your Inclination Is Your Pain

You do not suffer for not having anything or for losing what you have unless you’re attached to that thing. This is what I mean by inclination; we suffer because of our inclination. No one craves for what they do not know. You cannot crave for rice or salad if you do not know that there is anything like these delicacies. I remember that during my undergraduate days we never craved for junk foods like shawarma and pizza simply because we were not familiar with them. Ask today’s undergraduates, you will hear a very different story.

The lesson in this is that much of our craving exists outside us. It is a product of our environment and culture. However, given the terrific force with which these cravings sometimes push us towards gratifying them, we tend to believe that they’re right inside us, embedded in us. We’re thus left with the impression that we cannot do without gratifying them.

But truth is that the force that pushes us is right within us. It’s the force of inclination. It is both a positive force and a negative force, a creative as well as a destructive force. It is positive because it drives us towards growth and progress in life. On the other hand, it is negative because it is the source of our insatiability and the pains that come with it. Similarly, inclination is creative because it makes us productive. But then there is also its destructive side that destabilises our inner peace as we engage with the anxiety and uncertainties that come with pursuing life’s goals.

From the above we see that there is nothing wrong with inclination, only that it may become a source of pain if we do not subject it to moderation. We must avoid being a slave to our inclination. There are several stimuli in society that tempt us to fall into this slavery. A lot of these come from motivational speakers and evangelical preachers who labour to convince mere mortals that nothing lies beyond their control as far as attaining their ambitions is concerned. This sort of communication tends to get one intoxicated with optimism that one fails to see the need to be mentally prepared for all life’s possibilities – including negative possibilities.

One acquires a delusional kind of consciousness where one sees life as an ass which can be ridden to any direction one desires. But a realistic look at life reveals the incontrovertible truth that much as there are many things within the reach of our control, there are many outside it. Show me that man or woman that has the capacity to control everything about their life let me worship them as God. Life is no one’s ass, and this is why to live is to struggle.

Let’s learn that life is give and take. You win here, you lose here. You’re healthy today, you’re sick tomorrow. You are pleased today, you’re disappointed tomorrow. It’s just the struggle of life.

To live is to struggle. To live well is to struggle well.

This is my meditation this midweek.

Henry Chigozie Duru, PhD, teaches journalism and mass communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.