Life Is Ugly, Even With Makeup

Children tend to perceive life as this beautiful world that is waiting to be discovered. As children, we perceived our lives to be an endless journey of happiness because we were shielded by those who love us in their attempt to create a so-called perfect path through life and to guard us from the troubles they have been through. But it isn’t until we pass our haunting teenage years and reach adulthood that we come to realize that this world isn’t waiting to be discovered – its life that wants you to discover yourself.

You simply can’t be protected forever. Life is a trip with ups, downs and occasional pit-stops in between. A day that starts with joy can end in sorrow, and a day that starts in sorrow can end in joy. This is life. It’s ugly – no matter how much makeup you want to put on it.

People try to polish up the cycle of life with catch phrases like “YOLO” (You Only Live Once). But at the end of the day when the makeup is removed, the truth is all that remains. You will lie in bed with the same existential questions: “What is this life?” “Who am I?” “What is my purpose?” And leaving such questions unanswered can cause some inner turmoil later in life. It’s why the people who have found these answers tend to be happy and appreciative regardless of the day or situation that they are in. Meanwhile, those who called off the search for their true being are often bitter and never quite satisfied.

Let me make it quite clear that discovering who you are is not a onetime thing. It’s an ongoing, evolving process that is supposed to develop you into a better, mature individual. Life gives everyone the wakeup call, but it’s if you answer it that can make the difference.

The minute you think you figured everything out and you’re filled with immense pride, life will give a little chuckle, strap on a pair of steel-toe boots and will give you a nice kick to rock bottom. But that’s not where it ends. You think that you reached the lowest point in life and you struggle to get back up. As you try to find a quick shortcut to the top, you find yourself in quicksand and the more you struggle – the deeper you sink in. As you ask others for help, you will find yourself more alone than ever before. And that’s precisely the point where life wanted to bring you at. It wants you to be alone, to feel weak and miserable.

Life will do this to teach you one simple thing: only you can help yourself. It’s your strength, not somebody else’s, which can pick you back up and bring you where you need to be. The lowest point in your life is what gives you perspective on who you really are no matter how dark everything else may be.

Life is an awakening journey and is meant to be seen for what it truly is – ugly and without makeup. Because only then you will see how beautiful life really is.