No seriously. Go to hell. Well, I don't mean that hell - the one with the fire and brimstone - rather, I mean a more personal sort of hell, a hell where you are sole resident. Convinced yet? Probably not, but I'll tell you why you should consider my offer.
Now, I say "go to hell," and I say it so bluntly, because the narrative nowadays is just the opposite. In this modernist society we find that everything is curated to further our own comfort. We often seek the biggest houses, the nicest cars, the cushiest jobs - the easy life, if you will. While there is nothing wrong with these sorts of things in a vacuum, in reality these thing only serve to hinder us. What do I mean by this? Well, the truth is as comforting as these things are they do nothing for us. Yes, you might find yourself in possession of the newest and fanciest widget and for a time feel happy. However as we all know that moment passes and you return to the mundanity of your existence. Of course, this state is only for a time, as next year they will be releasing the newest and shiniest widget again, and you can once more feel that fleeting sense of happiness. Thus, we become hindered, servants to our fickle wants and desires. That is why I propose we "go to hell."
As outlined at the beginning of this work, the hell I propose is a personal one, separate and unrelated to the conventional understanding of "hell." The hell I refer to might be more aptly described as a separation from personal, or earthly pleasures. This hell refers to a higher calling, one where men can rise above the shackles of their own desires and instead seek to better themselves. This modern culture would have us wantonly pursue pleasure, but in doing so we shirk our duties and personal responsibilities. How can we achieve anything worth having if we only pursue what is expedient?
There is a certain nobility in bearing ones burdens with dignity. Hardship acts a a crucible on a mans heart - as a crucible heats metals that they might be reforged into a pleasing and ordered shape, so to does hardship provide the opportunity to be shaped into something ordered rightly in the world. Thus I say again, go to hell. Take into your hands the opportunities presented to you to do what is uncomfortable or downright painful. Seek to distance yourself from fleeting pleasures that you might be free to become that parent, friend, or spouse that you want to be. Then, when one day in the future you are asked how you got where you are, you can really say "I've been to hell and back."
