When a person puts a lot of effort into achieving a goal, works every second, leaving no time for family and hobbies, it causes respect. And at the same time it allows you to describe the situation with the word "to struggle." The meaning of this description is very vague and can be interpreted from positive to strictly disapproving. It all depends on the context and attitude of the speaker. So how do you decipher an obsolete term?
Look in the dictionaries
Any word has a lot of original interpretations. But in the specific case, they are all associated with a certain movement, accomplishment. When striving, a person:
through actions somehow manifests itself in creative, physical or spiritual activity;
rushing somewhere, moving or gathering forces for this action;
manifests himself in a real battle, performs a feat.
Nothing extraordinary, all within the bounds of decency. But why then periodically people of the older generation can use the word so that it becomes embarrassing? Perhaps there is a hidden meaning?
Visit the temple
The best explanation can be given by the father from any church. To this day, the meaning of the word “strive” in Orthodoxy has not lost its essence. It is used on a daily basis to describe the exploits of the great martyrs and the life of ordinary monks. Indeed, this is how the term “ascetic” appeared: when talking about a person who commits a charitable act that glorifies the work of the church and the name of Christ.
Parishioners strive when they perform a difficult task in order to save the soul: their own and those around them, to show by personal example the need to follow the commandments. Demonstrating humility, negotiating a risk to one's life, patronage and assistance in hospitals can be considered as asceticism. However, the church also points to the existence of those who work “not according to the law”:
under the pretext of renouncing the mortal world, they are not willing to work;
they starve themselves to hunger before illness, and they discredit the idea of fasting;
Having made a donation, they begin to put themselves above others and / or demonstrate it.
If a good deed turns out to be bad, the meaning of the word “work” is reversed. A similar situation with the definition of "heroism", and in everyday life the most appropriate example would be a "worker". After all, man is trying, but at the same time everything falls out of his hands, destroying the result of the hard work of colleagues.
Think and then say
But when can you insert a colorful word into speech? If you do not write a novel, do not speak on a historical topic or do not serve in the church, it is better to exclude such an ambiguous turn. Very often, “struggling” acquires negative connotations not so much because of a negative attitude, but because of a mismatch of the situation.