Is "doing the right thing" difficult?

It is often said that doing “the right thing” is difficult. This of course implies that doing “the wrong thing” is the easy way out. I’ve always agreed with this, but there’s another way to look at it.

If “easy” refers to the specific action, for instance, in giving into a certain temptation, then I would agree. It is “easy” to just give into the temptation (whatever it is) when the alternative requires battle - battle of mind and of actions. To use an example. Say you want to cheat (either in an exam or your spouse). In one way this is easy. You don’t have to go through the pains of studying or self-sacrificing love. So doing the “wrong thing” (cheating) is easier. Doing the “right thing” (honesty or faithfulness) is difficult.

But in another way this couldn’t be further from the truth. How so? It’s simple really.

If “easy” refers to, not the specific action, but to life in its totality, then the opposite is true. Doing the wrong thing is difficult and doing the right is easy. Cheating in an exam is difficult, i.e. life becomes difficult: you don’t really learn what you’re supposed to, and you might even get caught. Being unfaithful is difficult, i.e. life becomes difficult: you hurt your spouse and yourself (even if you don’t get caught), and rebuilding the trust and love may be an overwhelming task.

One can put this in another way. Doing the wrong thing is easy in the short run (just give in), but difficult in the long run. Doing the right thing may be difficult in the short run (requires battle), but much easier in the long run.