Why do we take up our Cross?

Chestnuts and pretzels in NYC w/ bff Pam

What difference does it make to take up our Cross and struggle to overcome our selfishness?  Why even bother?  Imagine if everyone lived just for themselves.  Besides being an incredibly lonely world, it would be an incredibly empty world.  What is it, in life, that fills us?  Why do we spend so much time, energy and anxiety caring about what other people think?

Because deep down we've learned that life happens as we relate to each other.  The greatest joy is to know that we are loved AND then to be free enough, to love others in return.  There’s a movie, Into the Wild, based on the true story of Chris McCandless.  Disillusioned with life, he dropped out of society and hitchhiked to the wilds of Alaska.  He lived off the land and journalled about his experiences.  Spoiler alert:  Eventually he died alone, from lack of food.  In one of the last entries in his journal he wrote:  Happiness is only real when it’s shared.  He had left everyone and everything, only to discover that happiness is in the sharing.  That’s why we take up our Cross because life is only real when it’s shared.  We aren't fully human unless we’re giving and sharing.  The freer we are to focus on others rather than ourselves, the more we are fully alive.  That’s true happiness.  We take up our Cross to find happiness.