Would it be all right with you if life got easier? I’ve asked tens of thousands of people that question over the past twenty years. After a pause, most of them say something like: “That’s obvious. Yes. Of course!”

Take a moment with that question. While you may find yourself giving an immediate “yes,” you could notice another question on your mind: “What’s the catch?”

There isn’t any catch. But this question about having life get easier flies in the face of what we normally consider the successful life to be. Many of us have learned that success is won by hard work – even struggle. We’ve raised the bar on our goals and achievements, while comparing ourselves to what we think others have accomplished. We get frustrated because we think we’re not doing enough to get ahead.

Mary squirmed in her chair as she continued, “I just don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I just do it? I feel stressed all the time when I’m not writing. ‘I should be writing’, I say to myself, but I don’t. I think, if I just get the laundry done, then I’ll be free to sit down and write the next chapter. But then I don’t. Maybe I need to exercise first, and I go for a run.

I get back home, fully intending to sit down at the computer. But I don’t. And all the while I’m feeling bad and stressed about not writing. What is wrong with me? Maybe I’m just lazy. Or maybe unconsciously I don’t really want to write. Or maybe it just means that I’m not really cut out to be a writer. ‘Writers write’, I tell myself.

I have a confession: When I go to a bookstore, I like hanging out in the self-help section. I don’t know if it’s because I think I’ll find a book that will solve all my problems, or if seeing all the books on problems I don’t have makes me feel better about myself. But whatever it is, I keep going back.

On recent visits, I’ve noticed a trend: The market has been glutted by books promising the secrets to happiness. That might not seem new (isn’t happiness the point of the entire section?), but these aren’t touchy-feely self-help titles – they’re books by scientific researchers, who claim to offer prescriptions based on rigorous empirical research. It’s all part of the “positive psychology” movement that has spilled out of academic journals and into best-selling books, popular magazine articles, and even school curricula.

Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if I was on planet earth thousands of years ago when language was somewhat non-existent, extremely elementary at best. Although our lives would have been much simpler, I am certain people were greatly challenged with their ability to effectively communicate their feelings and the beauty they witnessed in the marvelous world around them.

Fast forwarding thousands of year later, language today is quite comprehensive. Maybe it is a little bit too complex at times. The more complex language a person uses, the smaller their audience.

Anyhow, one absolutely amazing aspect of language is the ability to take a complex concept and put it into simple words which can be easily understood by the masses. For example, a metaphor can shortcut our understanding of concepts which may have taken years to understand otherwise.