You can’t truly be happy in a state of ignorance, because knowledge of the bitter is necessary to recognize and appreciate the sweet. As you progress, you will be waylaid again and again by darkness as you grow in light. It is unavoidable because exposure to the darkness is required to know what you lack, which in turn is required to gain light.
You don’t need to pretend it isn’t hard. It is really hard. But it isn’t the hardest thing. The hardest thing would be doing anything else.
When the difficulty of what they were being asked to do started dawning on them, Jesus’ disciples were overwhelmed. Sensing this, Jesus asked them:
67 ...Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6)
Jesus said, “...my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:30) This is only true with respect to the alternative. It is easier and lighter than ignorance, no matter how enticing ignorance may seem in the short term. The wrong thing is always harder in the end.
There are only two choices: what is right and what is wrong. Perceiving the right thing as difficult requires conjuring up a third way where things can remain as you imagined them prior to being shown more information about how things really are. That third way doesn’t exist. If you persist in lying to yourself to maintain the illusion of how you saw things before, you will still be just as subject to the consequences of what you now know. Reality doesn’t change just because you ignore it. These consequences will hurt you far more than doing the right thing will—by definition, this is what makes the right thing the right thing.
That the right thing is worth it is evident by the fact that it is right. If it wasn’t worth it, it wouldn’t be right. That is what makes it right. The difficulty isn’t related to whether it can be done or not, but rather how much you desire to do it.
The happiest person is not the person who thinks they are happy while remaining ignorant of the darkness that exists. The happiest person is the one who knows the most darkness, and has peace and contentment and joy in spite of it.
Happiness is not the absence of darkness. It is power over the darkness. The secret to maximizing joy is not avoiding this darkness, but embracing the idea that your awareness of darkness is the key to greater happiness. Feel the depth of the bad, so that you can learn what it takes to have the good.
You were created to be a warrior. Jesus is a warrior: “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.” (Isaiah 42:13) You know you will be torn apart as you endeavor on this journey. Don’t let that stop you. In this battle, victory doesn’t include survival.
Ride into the battle with courage and good cheer. Be courageous, and be happy. Find joy in your mission.