'Struggle' is one of those words.
i use it as it inspires me and frees me from that desire to be in la-la land.
others see it as a negative burden - one that was forced upon them by pious hypocrites who want us to deny our joy.
my form of struggle is full of joy - i am one who learns, and loves to learn, and in that learning i push myself to my absolute limits, and i love it!
if your form of struggle is a way to humiliate you, then toss 'struggle' out of your mind, as it is a word has been claimed by the spirits who wish to drag you down. Replace it with something you long for - words have power over our mind.
'work' and 'struggle' are words that should be used to get us up and moving, not cause us to become mired. change the words - anything that inspires will do. I myself never see my struggle as a groan, i see it as a way my spirit is birthed.
recently i read that cesarean births cause respiratory problems - more cesarean birth babies have to go into the breathing machine. this study recognised the struggle of passing through the cervix-vaginal passage as a way to squeeze the lungs and initiate the breathing.
struggle is not the problem - the problem is that we have been told to be 'heavy with proverbs and corrections' as L Cohen said. Free the mind from the claws of despair....
words... not enough. we need a precedent powerful enough to indelibly mark our spirit in the image of those who laugh in the midst of battle, who never sleep, lest their lord pass by unnoticed.
it is all about edge. Once you have it inscribed in your soul, you are free to laugh in the face of the Guardian. Skipping lightly, she danced away from those who told her her tasks were chores.
It always reminds me of the famous Indian guru whom even ministers of state would bow down to, yet he worked at splitting stones on the side of the road. It was all one to him.