Khalil Gibran, On Joy and Sorrow

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

More often than not, life throws curve balls your way, when you are least expecting it too. Here you are having a good time, regaling in all things beautiful, cherishing the precious moments, making merry, and celebrating with gratitude all that you have, and then boom! things blow up for you; like you had never expected them to. What did I do to deserve this you wonder? But there are simply no answers. The only answer that you get in all likely hood are: “Don’t let your hardships crush you. Don’t let your spirits be broken. Rise; rise like the phoenix from the ashes.”

The passage On Joy and Sorrow, by Khalil Gibran, speaks volumes to me. I keep going back to it, each time I feel crushed. It pulls me back to reality, it reminds me all is not lost, as sitting pretty somewhere along with my sorrow, is also my elixir of joy. A joy, that will revive those good old days. The more sorrow I feel today;  the more I look forward with bated breath, to the joy that will come my way. Yes, more often than not, it is easier said than done. But then nothing lasts forever, neither the sorrows nor the joy. Everything is temporary. It’s the impermanence of life that ruffles a lot of us, but then that’s a dictum we are to live with. And possibly this law of life makes it all bearable; the sorrows and the joys. Life would be very insipid if we were in a state of elation all the time. You may disagree, I assume. But then would you really value all your blessings, if you weren’t given any challenges?

So much is being written these days on how to stay happy. It’s up to us whether we chose to be happy or sad. I read somewhere the other day, “Your reaction to a situation literally has the power to change the situation.” So like I said last week, in my Monday Musings, it’s time to change the script, literally, when things don’t work the way we want them too.  If we chose to be patient and positive in a dire situation, a lot can be achieved, vis-à-vis getting ruffled up, impatient and upset as that in turn may complicate the situation further.

Yes, I’m writing this post for myself. I really needed to hear all of this, this week. After a very enriching Bloggers meet last weekend and attending the Valley of Words 2017 in Dehradoon, life suddenly has thrown a set of challenges my way. I was hoping to write about my two-day jaunt at the Literary Festival, but will leave that for yonder. I’m trying to find my footing in all this. I’m trying to appreciate the joy that I soaked in all this while. I’m trying to work my way through turning this challenge into a blessing.

If this post resonates with your life at this point of time, tell me how do you deal with challenges? Do you also write/blog about it? (I for once thought, I wont get the opportunity to, but well, God’s been kind and I just did.) Do you talk to people who can support you through this? Do you read motivational books or texts? Do you think this post has been of any help to you or not? Tell me what you think. Brick bats also welcome. :-))

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Linking up with the lovely Corinne and Macknezie