Why Does Life Become
a Tragedy for Many?
Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English poet. He died in 1822. He is known for his pain-filled poems. A line by him reads:
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
Shelley is right here as far as most people are concerned. But why is this so?
This is because most people live in the feeling that for them life has been unfulfilling, if not tragic, because they have been unable to obtain or experience all that they wanted to. Consciously or consciously, they think of themselves as failures in some way or the other. On account of this, when they listen to a plaintive song or read a pain-filled poem or story, their psyche of deprivation leads them to consider it as the call of their own heart. It powerfully resonates with their own life. Hence, they think it is true. In contrast, if they listen to a happy song or read a comedy, deep inside they do not find it in consonance with their own life, and so, consciously or otherwise, they think it isn’t true.
Why do people think this way? Why do they feel deprived and frustrated deep inside, even if they may be surrounded with material comforts?
The reason for this is that, generally speaking, people make plans for their life without understanding the creation plan of God. And so, they hanker after such things—such as unsullied, permanent joy—that are, according to God’s creation plan, simply unattainable in this present world. This is the basic reason for their predicament. If they were to remain content just with what they need and not seek what is impossible for them to attain in this world, they could save themselves from this misery.
If we want to live in line with God’s creation plan and be happy, we need to be content with only so much of the things of the world as we actually need. We must consider anything in excess of this as something that we might be able to get in the Hereafter. We should not waste our life in a quest to obtain the ideal in this world itself. This is the only secret for a peaceful and happy life.
