Running Up That Hill

Was Sisyphus the archetypal absurd hero, one who sees life as a constant struggle, without hope? Or in those moments when the boulder rolls away and Sisyphus descends the mountain free from his burden, has he accepted his fate and finally found the only genuine happiness?

The legend of Sisyphus is well known. He defied the gods and put Death in chains so that no humans would die. When Death was eventually freed and the time for Sisyphus himself to die occurred, he again cheated Death and escaped from the underworld. After finally capturing Sisyphus, the gods decided that his punishment would last for all eternity. He would have to push a rock up a mountain; upon reaching the top, the rock would roll down again, leaving Sisyphus to start over.

Albert Camus was a French philosopher and author. He began work on The Myth of Sisyphus in 1940, during the fall of France, when millions of refugees fled from advancing German armies. Camus said this helped him understand the absurd.

Camus depicted Sisyphus as the absurd hero who lives life to the fullest, hates death, and is condemned to a meaningless task. For Camus, the ceaseless and pointless toil was a metaphor for modern lives spent working at futile jobs in factories and offices. We build our lives on the hope for tomorrow, yet tomorrow brings us closer to death and is the ultimate enemy; we live our lives as if they would not end.

At some point in our lives we feel like we are struggling, whether it be with the bully down the street, the unfulfilling job, worrying about retirement, or just not having enough fun. When we let external conditions control our destiny, we surrender power and authority. Facing life head on, going through transitions and becoming stronger, all while enjoying our life, is preferable. After all, what we perceive to be real is ultimately real for us. If we perceive a life of struggle, then our experience is a life of struggle. Look at it this way. Two people are in the same situation; one feels blessed and therefore have a measure of peace, while the other feels cursed, alone and abandoned. The external variables are the same, only the perception is different.

Life isn't so much about what you have or can get. If you are focused on who has what, life is always going to seem hard; someone always has more. Life is more about what you do. There is only so much you can do, such a short time here on this planet to get things done.

Camus argues the absurd hero sees life as a constant struggle, without hope, living
with full awareness of the absurdity of their position. Sisyphus pushes his rock up the mountain, filled with toil and struggle, and upon reaching the top, the rock rolls down to the bottom again. In those moments where Sisyphus descends the mountain free from his burden, Camus states, he is aware. Sisyphus knows that he will struggle forever and he knows that this struggle will get him nowhere. This awareness is precisely the same awareness that an absurd man has in this life. So long as Sisyphus is aware, his fate is no different and no worse than our lot in life. Our fate only seems horrible when we place it in contrast with something that would seem preferable. If we accept that there is no preferable alternative, then we can accept our fate without horror. Only then, Camus suggests, can we fully appreciate life, because we are accepting it without reservations.

We get stuck in a life of struggle because we aren't focused on the steps along the way as we set our own path. We need to pay attention to where we are going, or how we are getting there. If we face our struggles, embrace them with open heart and mind, we can overcome them. If we stop fighting against the currents of life and instead move skillfully among them instead, we struggle less.

People who appear to be so blessed to have everything they want in life don’t necessarily have everything they want. They just enjoy more fully everything they have. To be happy is to be comfortable with yourself, with who you are, with all your limitations. If you have good health and enough money, you are fortunate. If you have people you love and who love you back, you are indeed blessed.