Choose!

I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?

Fyodor Dostoevsky (Notes from the Underground)

Into the wild, come with.
Into the deep sea, dive therein.
Into the highest cliff, climb up.
Into the pores of my skin, bury your soul in.

For I’m the wild,
Sprouted in the middle of nowhere,
Oh, God knows where!

For I am the dark sea,
Where no life is embedded,
Only darkness and unlively reigns.

For I’m wrapped in steal
Of high walls and I am
A gate to remain closed.

Come now.
Climb the steal walls.
Cross the deep sea.
Drive into the wilderness.
To lie beneath my skin.
Grab my hand-
My outstretched, inviting hand.
To the exalted suffering,
Rather than the cheap happiness,
Which we could find dispersed
All along the way.
Choose the pain.
For the happiness will leave,
It will abandon,
It will chase,
The brighter living soul.
Than being obligated,
Than being committed,
For the dark and the defeated.
Choose the exalted ache.
Do not settle for less.
For joy and happiness are overrated.
Ecstasy, Euphoria, and Elation
Are deemed to expire,
To disappear into a thin air.
Whereas pain,
Pain, regret, and resentment are constant companions.
They crawl, walk, and run
Along by the side.
Into anything and everything.

Oh, into the abyss, come!
Choose.
Choose when you still can.
Savor the opportunity.
While the time warp is on,
For you to pick,
The exalted pain,
Over the cheap happiness.