This material world is described in the Bhagavad-gita as duhkhalayam, a place of misery. By living here we get daily first hand experience of the reality of this description. In spite of the fact that no one wants to get sick, get old, or die, everyone is forced to endure these miseries. Plus there are innumerable other miseries caused by the mind, other living beings, and nature.
So what can be done about all this suffering? In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna declares that we have to be tolerant of the dualities of material existence.
matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino 'nityas
tams titiksasva bharata
"O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."
Bhagavad-gita 2.14
Even the body of a fully self-realized soul gets sick, gets old, and dies. Even such a soul has to face so many impediments caused by nature and other living beings. Therefore we must patiently endure so many difficult circumstances while we engage ourselves in serving the Lord's mission. These difficulties are a golden opportunity for us to endear ourselves to the Lord because the more we are willing to take trouble in executing the purpose of the Lord, the more we become recognized by the Lord. Difficulties are therefore welcomed by those who are learned in the transcendental science.
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