Pains and Rewards of Life - Essay Example

Life is hard for those who perceive it to be so. But those who consider life’s ups and downs as its inseparable parts eventually find a way to be happy. According to the Declaration of Independence, we can only pursue happiness, we cannot attain it, and so we should consider happiness as a journey, not as a destination (Jefferson). This is the only way we can be happy because we could enjoy it as a process. Life is like traveling through beautiful fields filled with greenery, but we are so worried about achieving material happiness and riches that we cannot dare to see around and praise the beauty of life. The same goes with this life, we keep on working for our future and keep on postponing our parties and vacations for more money. But in the end, we lose our energy and youth, therefore, rendered unable by our age and cannot be able to avail the happiness that life had to offer.

The woman I mentioned in the previous paragraph is me. I spent a very painful life. When I was in the Navy, my male colleagues were always interested in taking advantage of me. But I kept dodging them throughout my whole service tenure. Despite the difficulties, I kept on moving forward and learned how to deal with them eventually, by being reserved and indifferent to their issues all the time. In this way, I was able to keep them away.

Finally, I got retired from the Forces after a long time. I returned home where I engaged myself in healthy activities of gardening and housekeeping. After some years after retirement, my son died and he left two children in my custody. A few days later, federal law enforcement officials came and took my grandchildren away from me. I got too frustrated. But I decided to take this matter to the court, where I successfully proved that I am in a good health and, therefore, able to take care of my children. Fortunately, the court agreed and granted me custody of the children. From that day on, I am proud of myself, because I was able to take a stand for my children. As I mentioned earlier, I had spent a very painful life; however, these grandchildren are the rewards for the pains I suffered in my youth. I am happy seeing them grow, giggle and flourish in front of me. I enjoy answering their innocent questions about life. I am training them to become strong-willed individuals. I let them take decisions by themselves so that they learn to face the consequences of their decisions. In this way, they can build an experience about a real and nasty life that they have to face very shortly.

Conclusion
This paper highlights different facets of my life. My life gives a message of constant struggle in at least one part of everybody’s life so that one can rip their fruits later on. Hard work with persistence is a true way to success; an individual should follow his or her way because humans come into this world in their original form. They should depart from here in the same way.
I stood up for my rights, fought for them, and finally won against all the odds. I recommend courage, persistence, and determination to all of those who are discouraged due to social pressures. Read More