Life is not easy.

Nor is it supposed to be.

Without its inherent difficulties life would soon become a dull place.

That said, a great many people in this world still like to act as though they are entitled to ease of life.

Hang on. Entitled..? Why? Did your parents have it easy? What about their parents? That’s right. Ask your grandparents to tell you about the physical, financial and general hardship that they faced in their lifetime… I’m off point.

Home ownership. Too hard for first time buyers..? Impossible to accumulate that first home deposit..? Yeah. In a word: sacrifice. I bought my first home when I was 20. Admittedly that was in 2003, but the principle remains the same. I was on an apprentice wage at the time, around $250 per week. Even so, as dictated by ‘The Plan’, I put away $100 each week from my very first pay, age 16. Four years later… Sorry, that’s not the point either.

Our desire for simplicity, this obsession with ease of life is being measured then perpetuated by big-shot manufacturers pandering to ignorant consumers’ innate fascination with new ideas. Technology. It’s out of control. Always on the move – constantly transcending itself with new innovations. It would appear that the technology boffins and engineers of the world have undertaken a quest to remove as much of the effort from life as humanly possible. Television remotes have made it possible to sit down in the evening and not get up again until bedtime. Text messaging has made it possible to communicate with somebody just down the road without taking the time to actually visit them. Computers have made it possible to… in fact I’m unable think of anything that we can’t do via a computer.

So few tasks nowadays require any effort at all. People are becoming lazy; idle. This is without going into what it’s doing for the population’s child obesity plight.

Furthermore, it’s how the majority of youth seem to expect everything to be handed to them and never have to struggle for anything; never have to sacrifice. Here’s the thing though, when starting out in adult life nobody needs to have the best of everything. The idea is to work your way there with time. That’s the challenge; that is where the satisfaction is derived.

Sadly this ideal seems to have been lost amid a torrent of interest-free finance, hire-purchase and buy-now-pay-when-you-can. Or can’t.

Does nobody believe in sacrifice anymore?

Without sacrifice, simply, we would become accustomed to ease of life. This is a perilous path to tread. Truth is, your beloved ‘Ease of Life’ cannot be maintained. Life will always be waiting for soft-cocks like you to fall complacent then when you’re not watching, it will pick you up and launch you headlong into a shit-storm of discomfort.

I am 30 years’ old and have already struggled through life more than any law-abiding citizen should have to. The aforementioned shit-storm can befall anyone, at any time. Therefore, to those of you who are currently cruising through life and believe that it will always be this way; think that it will always be this easy, wake the hell up.

My advice, inure yourself to hardship while you still have a choice. That way when shit does get real, not only will you handle it, you will thrive.

Article by Mit Reklaw

Edited by B Ware

Photography by Chet Storm