Acharya Prashant explains that a person's life continues in a certain way simply because it is possible for it to do so. You will be forced to change your life only when it becomes impossible for it to continue in the same manner. You are able to carry on with your life as it is, and that is why you are doing so. He uses the analogy of a dilapidated car with worn-out tires and no alignment. If its only use is for short trips to the grocery store, it will keep running despite its poor condition. However, if you take this car on an expressway, you will be forced to get it repaired immediately. The car continues to run in its dilapidated state because it can; its use is limited. Similarly, you will need the great power of the Self only when you have a great task or purpose in your life. The Self, or Atma, is strength, and only those who need strength can get close to it. If you have not taken on a task that requires great strength, your worn-out life will continue to function, and you will not feel the need to change it. He gives the example of the Mahabharata, stating that Arjun received the Gita only because he entered the battlefield. If one does not enter the battlefield of life and take on a great challenge, one will never face a real problem and thus will never understand the Gita or the Upanishads. Everything becomes clear through 'on-the-job training'. The tragedy of the current age is that life has been made too easy, allowing an average, mediocre life to be filled with comfort. In the past, life would punish mediocrity, but now there is no such consequence. When life is easy, there is no need for spiritual progress. The only progress people seek is material. No problem comes before us that shakes us from within and forces us to change fundamentally. He advises not to suppress the difficulties that are already present. If life seems to have no difficulties, one should understand that something is wrong and actively seek a challenge. A struggling person has dignity and develops a certain glow. He urges the questioner to choose some hardships and not be a comfort-seeker, as consciousness shrinks in comfort and negligence.
