On Adversity, Lightness, and a Life Worth Living

We often hear that hardship is what builds character. That it's the trials, the tough years, the pain, the struggle that shape us into who we are and enable whatever success we eventually achieve. I think that's a powerful way to look at life, and in many ways, it's true. Adversity does build resilience. It tempers you. It changes how you respond to opportunity, fear, and responsibility.

But I want to be careful about something.

I don't think adversity should be treated as the sole marker of a meaningful life. I don't think a life only has depth, adventure, or worth if it has been forged through suffering.

Yes, hard times shape you. They build character, strengthen temperament, and teach you how to stand up when things go wrong. They can make you braver, more disciplined, more capable of pursuing things you might otherwise avoid. I've experienced that myself. In my teens, during academics, and throughout my professional life, I've gone through periods that were genuinely difficult. And for a long time, I told myself: maybe this is why I'm here; maybe this is what I needed to become who I am.

That belief gave me strength when I needed it.

Last year, though, was one of the hardest years of my life. Not just personally or professionally, but existentially. And somewhere in that period, something shifted. I realized that the deepest, most stable form of peace didn't come from believing that this had a reason or that it was leading somewhere specific. It came from accepting that you need to live every moment as it is. You don't need to justify a moment because of something that might come in the future, or because of greatness that is yet to come. You just need to be fully aware of the moment of suffering and fully aware of the moment of lightness. Both are complete on their own.

A moment doesn't need permission from the future to matter.

I say this as someone who deeply admires people like David Goggins. I've read his books. I've listened to them more than once. That mindset, the idea that suffering is the forge and that without hardship there is no greatness, has given me real mental energy at different points in my life. And there is truth in it.

But I also think there's another truth alongside it.

If you aren't going through extreme hardship, you don't need to manufacture ambition to justify your existence. You don't need to achieve something monumental to balance the scales. If you have the basics, health, some financial stability, and the ability to care for yourself and the people you love, you don't owe the world extraordinary output in exchange for peace.

You don't have to suffer deeply to live deeply. And if you have suffered, you don't have to conquer the world to make it count.

And if you do want to conquer the world, that's fine too. Make that choice and live that journey.

I'm not trying to argue against ambition or discipline or resilience. I've relied on those things myself. I'm also not trying to rank lives or paths or philosophies. What feels truest to me now is simpler than that.

Be present for the moment you're in. Let it be heavy if it's heavy. Let it be light if it's light. Don't rush to justify it. Don't rush to turn it into a lesson.

Just live it.