Q:  God, 13.7 billion years ago when you created the universe, what were you thinking?

A:  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The above is my channeled answer to a client’s question about why life includes suffering.  It made us both laugh, and has stayed present in my mind as the best explanation yet for why we humans struggle so much to find peace.

As near as I can tell, people are constantly spotting peace on the horizon, and run after it with great vigor only to discover some sort of invisible barrier between themselves and their goal.  Why does this happen?

Why not be content with the idea that some things just aren’t possible?  Why is giving up so often associated with suicide?  Why can’t we just live life content in the knowledge that we have certain limits and there’s nothing we can do about them?  If we did, we wouldn’t suffer in the face of obstacles, we’d embrace them with relief:  oh good, my break-up proves I can never find true love, now I don’t have to worry about dating.

Instead, we seem to have a compelling need to try.  On a deep level, we know what we’re capable of, so the sense of limitation feels wrong.  Buddha said suffering is caused by being at war with what is.  I propose the belief that there are limits to what a person can do is the greatest cause of suffering in the world.

The universe began approximately 13.7 billion years ago.  We are created out of its matter, and each of us serves as a channel for its energy.  We are given a consciousness that creates obstacles between ourselves and peace, and we are not capable of being content in this state.

Yet the obstacles in themselves serve the search for peace.  Our reactions to a wall force us to look toward what actually serves beyond the satisfaction of immediate pleasure.  As it is the grain of sand that makes a pearl, so is it the walls we encounter that force us to turn inward to discover what deeper truth is available and unlock our greater potential.

What if we are hard-wired to seek a better life in response to difficulty for one simple reason: it works?