Is every life a struggle?

I’m alluding to the quote “to live is to suffer”. Do some people have it easy? Are there people who look at their current life or the life they’ve lived who can say that it’s been an easy journey?

I’ve had a rough week. I don’t want to go into too many details. I have seven “dependents,” and life gets really complicated and overwhelming sometimes. Not sometimes. Too often. I am mentioning it, but I’m not complaining. I am fully responsible for how I’ve set up my life model. My dependents are not some unfortunate occurrences. They depend on me because I thought I could make it work; I thought I could help them — take care of their basic needs and help them achieve their dreams.

I’m miserably failing at both tasks, and the struggle is real. I feel like an imposter.

There are actual struggles, and there is cognitive dissonance that adds to the state of being overwhelmed. I know well that some of my struggles are “first-world problems,” and that they are also the consequence of many bad decisions and mistakes. My family is healthy, at least at this moment. We are not affected by wars or natural disasters. Still, there is no escape from acknowledging that my life is a mess and reflects decades-long streaks of mistakes and taking wrong paths. Or maybe the paths are not wrong. Maybe they will eventually lead to a beatiful place. But the journey is rough.

Much has been written about the value of the situations when you are “pressed against the wall” or “hit rock bottom” — in relationships…