Struggle Through the Strife (short essay)

This is and essay I recently had to write for my English 1010 class. It's suppose to be a definition essay. This is the first time that I have ever posted in any of the writing forums, so please move if needed.
I'm accepting any and all criticism since this is the first thing that I have written in about 10yrs. I will be writing more for my class as the weeks pass so I would like to be able to improve my skill. Thanks for reading.



Struggle Through the Strife
We’ve all had those days where nothing seems to go right. No matter how much effort and planning one puts in. No matter how much they keep their attitude on a leash. It’s just a bad day. Now imagine those unbearable kinds of days on a larger scale, weeks, months. That sort of stuff can keep a person down. Make them feel like the whole world is against them. Every time you take ten steps in the right direction, some divine wind comes and blows you six steps back. That’s more or less what it feels like to struggle. Not a physical struggle like pedaling a bike up a steep hill. But, rather inner life struggles. The struggles that seem to stagnate a person.

It’s easy to look around at friends and strangers and see that life can be pretty easy sometimes. Heck, if a person looks at Facebook, that’s all life is about, fun. We see pictures of expensive parties, lavish vacations and nice houses. People share videos of their funny children or their cute animals. It just all seems so perfect from the outside view. Looking in, it makes a person wonder how others are managing to avoid this divine wind. Why am I the only one that can’t seem to get ahead in life? Why can’t I just catch a break?

I mean we all want to have nice houses and the fastest cars. And from our view sometimes, it seems that everybody else is achieving these goals but we can’t even pay this month’s rent. I want to go on a nice vacation to the Grand Canyon, but I can’t save up because I still have medical bills to pay. Of course I would like to go hiking through the mountains of South America, but I can’t because somehow I got stuck in this muck and can’t seem to move. That’s how it feels when the world throws everything it has at a person and everyone around them seems to be doing just fine. And why wouldn’t they be? The world seems fixated on only keeping me in this mire, to struggle out of it, only to be blown back in by the divine wind.

At a certain point the struggle becomes expected. It seems inevitable, because it always has been. So a person might start to plan around that. Expect the mud, so to speak. They might decide to take a different route this time, or to avoid that same path altogether. But, then, despite all the planning and expectations, they find themselves against an entirely new struggle. Something completely unexpected and unplanned for. Now, there are trees in the road and there’s no way around them. It would make a pretty easy argument for that person to just give up and give in. A choice has to be made eventually. To continue forward regardless of the trees? Or quit? If a person decides to quit, easy. They most likely won’t encounter many struggles. And if they do, they’ll be known struggles and easy to deal with by experience. But, if a person decides to continue on, to keep fighting that path forward, they’re almost guaranteed to endure more. Only a few decide to push on.

Those few that do push on do so with a goal in mind. Not everybody has the same reasons either. But, they all know that there will be more struggles, more mud, and more trees. They know that they’re coming and accept them. And those rewards that we see shared on Facebook or driving down the highway, those were gained along the way. They were treasures to be found after every struggle they endured. They were the hidden diamonds in the mire. But, they never stopped advancing and taking on new struggles. The world never stopped doling out its bad luck to everyone. It was never really fixated on just me, and making sure I was the only one stuck in the mud. It never really cared who got stuck. That was there for everyone to trip in, those trees were there for everyone to stop and contemplate. Only those that decided to take those struggles in stride were the ones to find the treasures along the way.

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a reply to: RehanKhan

Thanks, I had completely forgotten that I posted this.

Well, I can tell you that the actual writing aspect of putting an idea to paper isn't my strong suite.
Coming up with the ideas is the easy part for me, I'm just not very good at writing.
But, any questions you have I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.

a reply to: Chickensalad

This is what makes me think someone is always watching me. It's like "the story of my life" kind of deal.

originally posted by: tinymind
a reply to: Chickensalad

This is what makes me think someone is always watching me. It's like "the story of my life" kind of deal.

Haha! Right, I tried to write about something relatable to most people. But, also try to write something a little encouraging. Even though it was suppose to be a definition essay, I wanted to add a layer or two to it.