Life moves in waves, phases, trends. There is rarely a stable foundation of contentment for long in relative life. The wave has peaks and troughs, and the higher the peak of joy or happiness or pleasure or excitement, so deep will be the following trough of sadness or despair. That’s just the way life is.
The well-known author and Christian theologian C.S. Lewis put it this way... The happiness before goes with the pain now; that's the deal!
Yes I was just going to post that quotation when I started reading your piece on happiness / sadness but I rememeber it as "The pain now is the joy then , that's the deal" but I got it from Shadowlands, his lifestory and a great film.I also like to think her death and the sadness that came with it only emphasised all the more how happy they had been, that to really experience joy you have to accept that pain and suffering will come in its wake.
ReplyDeleteI believe you remembered it perfectly. Thank you for posting your comment. I had an old meditation teacher who once said that we should "not be like a football... subject to the kicks of life." Having a spiritual practice allows us to establish a baseline of contentment, of equanimity, in life so that we don't experience the peaks and valleys of joy and pain.
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