Albert Camus – so cool, it’s depressing.

“LIFE IS SUFFERING. THAT’S CLEAR. There is no more basic, irrefutable truth.”

Ouch, that hurts…  This is the start of “Rule 7” from Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life : An Antidote for Chaos. I didn’t expect him to get so dark in his “antidote”.

You can expect this kind of thinking if you’ve ever read contemporary philosophy like Camus or Sartre. I contend that those fine gentlemen were massively depressed. Not stuff you want to read on a rainy day.

JBP even pulls out some Biblical references to remind us how futile life can be. “Short and sorrowful is life, and there is no remedy when a man comes to his end.” (Wisdom 2:1, RSV)

I can tell you that this idea of suffering came to light in several discussions this week, and even in my own life. “Life just sucks” sometimes, to paraphrase and summarize several recent meetings. There are times when there are no answers. “Sometimes, we just struggle, and there is no good reason for it,” said the priest.

HOWEVER.  WAIT JUST A SECOND.

Even JBP comes around to the idea of MEANING.  Interestingly enough, the title of “Rule 7” is Pursue What is Meaningful!  Do you think “my homeboy JBP” (to paraphrase the aforementioned priest) might have been reading some Viktor Frankl in his studies?  I think so.

MEANING is the antidote to CHAOS.  Even when all the suffering that is heaped upon us feels overwhelming – pain, suffering, guilt, depression, anxiety, death – we can still CHOOSE to discover meaning in it!  Maybe the meaning is as simple as ‘don’t read Camus on a rainy day’, or perhaps ‘call your mother even when you’re frustrated with her’, or ‘be nice to your friend/partner/co-worker/spouse, you never quite know what they are going through’.  Perhaps the meaning is ‘try to have fun even when things seem serious’ (see aforementioned “JBP is my homeboy” quote).

And when we can’t seem to find meaning in our struggling, maybe it’s a reminder that we need others to help us in this life.  Maybe it’s a reminder that we can’t do it all, and we need friends, partners, and guides at times.

I don’t always know what the answer to suffering is.  But I do know we always have the CHOICE to discover MEANING in our suffering.

JBP gives us a few ideas about what he finds meaningful as writes about his “fundamental moral conclusions: Aim up.  Pay attention.  Fix what you can fix.  Don’t be arrogant in your knowledge.  Strive for humility, because totalitarian pride manifests itself in intolerance, oppression, torture and death.  Become aware of your own insufficiency – your cowardice, malevolence, resentment and hatred.”  Much more uplifting stuff than Sartre, trust me.

So good luck alleviating your suffering out there – it seems there is a lot of it these days.  And if you can’t alleviate your own suffering, maybe you can alleviate someone else’s.  You’d be amazed at what that does (we call it “self-transcendence”).

And, if you want to explore deeper, come check out The Meaning Project.  It will be changing quite a bit over the next few weeks – so feel welcome to take a look at the early version before it’s gone.