I was reminded recently how much I love the principle that there needs to be opposition in all things.
Last week I had something on my to-do list that felt big and overwhelming to me. I spent many hours preparing for this event, and even when I wasn’t physically preparing, it was never far from my mind. It felt like a weight that I carried on my shoulders wherever I went that week.
Fast forward to Thursday, when that thing was successfully completed. My preparation had paid off, and I felt good about what I had accomplished. The rest of that day, and even into Friday, I was practically giddy. Without that mental weight hanging over me, I felt free as a bird. It was almost a physical feeling of lightness that felt so good!
I realized… if I had never experienced the stress or weight that I felt the first part of the week, then Thursday would have just been a regular day. I would not have known to appreciate that feeling of lightness, because there wouldn’t have been such a dramatic contrast. It was BECAUSE of the hard thing that I was feeling that level of happiness!
If “[wo]man is, that [s]he might have JOY,” then it’s absolutely necessary for us to experience the opposite of joy. Otherwise, we wouldn’t fully appreciate, or even comprehend, what joy really is.
I’m going to try to remember that next time I feel myself bogged down by the weight of something hard. The hard things are just getting me ready to appreciate more fully the wonderful things. I am grateful for that perspective.
Christi
