One of the conditions for rising in rank in most martial arts is ability to beat someone who is already on the rank. So, humans are mostly take pride and derive respect from their ability to overcome great challenges to achieve great things. Without striving towards achievement, humans may never value achievements nor rise above the emptiness of unchallenged comfort given to them.
Challenges are fulfilling and inevitable parts of meaningful life. They squeeze out hiding strengths and potentials we may never know we have. We either face the challenges we see in our world willingly, or they catch up with us as we run from them. While some people boldly confront human challenges, others who avoid challenges are often over-run by them. The stories of the greatest people in history are marked by some anxiety-filled stages for confronting challenges before they reach success.
Without overcoming serious challenges like hunger, sicknesses, conflicts and unproductivity to their fellow humans in a society, people may never attain fulfilment for their purpose in life. They may not manifest their roles, nor find the meaning of their lives in the society. For nature, itself, is like a tough teacher that presents various tests and challenges to various generations of human beings. And people from the different generations survive and find fulfilment by overcoming the challenges of their times. Till today, people are remembered for their achievements because of the challenges they overcame in getting the achievement.
Fulfilment, which is a healthy-self-appreciation, is a state of satisfaction that people experience when they have done something great and selfless. It is the healthiest food for the human soul that makes people rejoice when they contribute to worthy causes despite great challenges. However, like normal food, it is to be renewed from time to time by overcoming newer challenges. So, people work daily, as groups or individuals, to overcome different challenges for their society and humanity in general. By overcoming human challenges for the society, they add value to humanity and even get social or financial rewards.
On the other hand, comfort is defined as conditions in which somebody feels physically relaxed.[1] It includes the quality of possessing things that make you physically relaxed, or relieved from pain and anxiety.[2] Human are naturally inclined to seeking comfort, to satisfy the bodily pleasures in food, love, rest and beautiful possessions. Yet, all the elements for comfort are not readily given in nature, so, people facilitate the conditions by eliminating challenges. Hence, conditions for comfort are created by the eliminating challenges to human wellbeing, and the ability to eliminate human challenges leads to fulfilment.
Comfort is a necessity for refreshment, wellbeing, growth and increased productivity. People are able to learn, think properly, raise families, socialize, build and construct artistic and technical structures when they have the basic comfort. Thus, reaching a stage of comfort is a preparation for another level of challenge. As physically healthy people must keep eating to remain healthy, so emotionally healthy people must keep confronting challenges. They are fed, educated and nurtured to make meaningful impact in human history, not just to enjoy and die.
However, people who continually enjoy comfort without confronting challenges often have beautiful bodies and empty minds. Because they are not guided to overcome any challenge for humanity, they often feel the futility and emptiness of their lives. At this point of emptiness, some seek challenges, even worthless challenges, in order to make some meaning of their lives. They are like well-fertilized or manured land without any good seeds planted to grow on them. Therefore, after a while, weeds will begin to grown in them as social vices and crimes like drugs, terrorism, and even suicide.
The emptiness of unchallenged comfort often manifests itself in people who get and store wealth and comfort without social purpose. Different governments make promises of unchallenged comfort to their citizens during campaigns, without considering the emptiness of unchallenged comfort. Some wealthy parents strive to provide unchallenged comfort for their children. Eventually, they forget the purpose of comfort, which is a preparation for confronting higher challenges to humanity everywhere in the world.
Some developed nations still strive to sustain the unchallenged comfort for their citizens, even at the expense of developing nations. So, their citizens may never rise above the emptiness of unchallenged comfort. For they are humans, and despite the level of comfort they enjoy for the while, they have to confront humanity’s challenges to obtain fulfilment. And if you insist on conquering the whole world for them, they will later destroy their own humanity. Gun-laws may never eliminate the emptiness of unchallenged comfort that often manifest in mass-shootings or suicide. They have energies to expend, but do not have a direction to use these energies. The guidance to human fulfilment by overcoming human challenges remains the best way to dispel emptiness of unchallenged comfort.
[1] Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
[2] Cf. Ibid.