Nobility in Suffering.

In utter boredom, a completely irrelevant question appeared in my head. Does nobility of character come when one rejects oneself, or will it lead to a form of delusion? 

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We are well aware that denying oneself does not necessarily make one noble. Far from it actually, as many people do it in the name of religion, claiming that their self-denial will earn them goodie points with a god who appreciates self-sacrifice. After all, Jesus did it himself to redeem the world’s sinners. The problem is, their self-denial is hinged on a completely different interest.  

Most mortals, on the other hand, generally deny themselves to kowtow to the wishes of some selfish people, and not actually to reach self-actualization. People deny their true identities on the tinge of fear that they will burn in the fires of hell. Sometimes, religion acts as a good refuge for them, but they will forever feel that there is something missing in their lives. Some kids follow their parents’ wishes, taking courses against their will or in treading a path totally lost on them. It might be admirable trait being an obedient son/daughter, but they are somehow short-changing themselves in committing their lives into something unfamiliar and unloved. The world is then short of painters and journalists or pianists and dreamers because they had to live as merchants and lawyers. 

Self-denial can be ennobling when you deny yourself a course of action because you recognize how it will make you and other people both better off and happier. There is no nobility in suffering if you cannot suffer gracefully and turn out to be an inwardly bitter, unfulfilled person in the process. Most people are not saints, and will be secretly unhappy if they deny themselves something they really want.

In the end, self-denial is ennobling only if it makes you happy, perversely. Happy not because you are suffering, but that you never really needed whatever it is you denied yourself. Only a self-denial that serves to make life lighter and easier to live by, or a self-denial that takes you on the path that you want to take, no matter how divergent is truly worth considering.