Blessed with Misfortunes
Recently, I confessed to a pen pal that I had been struggling with a little depression a few letters back. I described to her the steps I had taken to shake it off and apologized if my mood had filtered into the letter. We correspond through audiotape, so I was particularly concerned about the infectious nature of vocal tone, and I also didn't want her worrying about me. The recording is just a point in time and not representative of the whole roundness of things as I've described in earlier posts.
My friend responded with astonishment. "Your voice is always so cheerful and positive," she explained, "I didn't think you got depressed about many things."
The truth is, everyone gets depressed. There is some comfort in that. We are all united in the experience. We can let go of any self-defeating feelings of inadequacy at our lack of perfect happiness because they're all based on illusion. Everyone feels sad or lonely or small. Everyone gets frustrated and wonders if they're headed in the right direction. Everyone asks "why me?" You may think, as you look around yourself, that there are people who have it all together, who don't worry or hurt, but you're only seeing slivers of lives that in their roundness, encompass highs and lows. In fact, those who seem most content with their lives are often those who have borne the most misery.
Misfortunes have a way of tempering our souls. Sometimes, we develop a positive attitude as a means of coping with the turbulence in our lives. In my case, life is by no means a tragedy, but it hasn't been easy. There have been plenty of challenges in my path, but we all face challenges. The worst we know is the worst for us regardless of what others have faced.
Our response to our misfortunes is what builds us up or tears us down, not the misfortunes themselves. Each struggle is an opportunity to come to know the universe better and to build a more positive you.
Society conditions us to see misfortunes and sorrows as something wrong. We think that we are entitled to lives free of problems and that the natural order is out of joint if we are ever sad.
Are you blue? Snap out of it...or take this pill.
While I would never advocate living in your sorrow (that's just as unbalanced as being happy all the time,) there's no need to flee from it. Own it. Move through it. Learn what you can along the way. You may find that by directly facing your troubles, solutions will appear. You may find that the problems are not as dire as they seemed. Even if you are unable to solve your problem, you can take comfort in knowing you've done what you can and just wait for the wheel of the world to turn. In any case, you grow stronger for walking through the shadows a while.
A person who rarely has to live through the everyday troubles, or who flees the darker moments of their life, never has the opportunity to develop the kind of true, deep happiness that would see them through the major crises every person must face. So, though we might think such a person is lucky, I think the one challenged to overcome some difficulties is luckier.
And while I won't wish for trouble, sadness, or distress for anyone, I will welcome opportunities to grow and to know this half of the human experience. Let life be happy, but not too happy. Let us be lucky, but not too lucky. Let us be safe, but not too safe. True serenity comes because we are blessed with misfortunes.
My friend responded with astonishment. "Your voice is always so cheerful and positive," she explained, "I didn't think you got depressed about many things."
The truth is, everyone gets depressed. There is some comfort in that. We are all united in the experience. We can let go of any self-defeating feelings of inadequacy at our lack of perfect happiness because they're all based on illusion. Everyone feels sad or lonely or small. Everyone gets frustrated and wonders if they're headed in the right direction. Everyone asks "why me?" You may think, as you look around yourself, that there are people who have it all together, who don't worry or hurt, but you're only seeing slivers of lives that in their roundness, encompass highs and lows. In fact, those who seem most content with their lives are often those who have borne the most misery.
Misfortunes have a way of tempering our souls. Sometimes, we develop a positive attitude as a means of coping with the turbulence in our lives. In my case, life is by no means a tragedy, but it hasn't been easy. There have been plenty of challenges in my path, but we all face challenges. The worst we know is the worst for us regardless of what others have faced.
Our response to our misfortunes is what builds us up or tears us down, not the misfortunes themselves. Each struggle is an opportunity to come to know the universe better and to build a more positive you.
Society conditions us to see misfortunes and sorrows as something wrong. We think that we are entitled to lives free of problems and that the natural order is out of joint if we are ever sad.
Are you blue? Snap out of it...or take this pill.
While I would never advocate living in your sorrow (that's just as unbalanced as being happy all the time,) there's no need to flee from it. Own it. Move through it. Learn what you can along the way. You may find that by directly facing your troubles, solutions will appear. You may find that the problems are not as dire as they seemed. Even if you are unable to solve your problem, you can take comfort in knowing you've done what you can and just wait for the wheel of the world to turn. In any case, you grow stronger for walking through the shadows a while.
A person who rarely has to live through the everyday troubles, or who flees the darker moments of their life, never has the opportunity to develop the kind of true, deep happiness that would see them through the major crises every person must face. So, though we might think such a person is lucky, I think the one challenged to overcome some difficulties is luckier.
And while I won't wish for trouble, sadness, or distress for anyone, I will welcome opportunities to grow and to know this half of the human experience. Let life be happy, but not too happy. Let us be lucky, but not too lucky. Let us be safe, but not too safe. True serenity comes because we are blessed with misfortunes.
Comments
Post a Comment