The Impossible Human Condition

The following examples come to mind today about the impossibility of the human condition:

1. Most of us despise change, we long for stability and predictability, yet human life involves constant and continuous adaptation to change on all levels:  body, mind, spirit (feelings).

2. We have mixed feelings toward almost everything, including those we profess to love, even, or especially, our parents, who have given us the great gift of life.  However to express our ambivalence, our hate entwined with love, is highly inappropriate.

3. Life isn’t fair. Often there is injustice and/or lack of resolution. A woman I know suffered extreme abuse in the care of her mother and a teacher yet these people died  highly regarded by the community. They escaped unscathed, never forced to face or acknowledge their abuses.

4. Life doesn’t get easier  as we age (as I’d assumed). At least in a physical sense, time can be viewed as an insult.  Our bodies deteriorate, causing  pain and  requiring increasing amounts of maintenance , and ultimately, we suffer  the greatest narcissistic injury, the loss of life itself.

5. A long marriage, filled with  love and passion, does not guarantee a happy ending. A couple may split up in their later years, regarding each other as their worst enemy. Witness the case of Leo Tolstoy (great Russian writer (1828-1910)  and his wife,  Sonya, who because of political differences, died painfully estranged from each other (depicted in the recent, powerful movie The Last Station).

Dear Reader: I welcome your comments. (jsimon145@gmail.com)