Expect to have hope rekindled.
Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.
The dry seasons in life do not last.
The spring rains will come again. - Sarah Ban Breathnach
This too in time shall pass. A friend of mine is going through an especially hard time, and I think it's hard for him to see that, though he's in a time of much transition, everything will work out. I can see, from a more objective perspective, that all this change is going to lead to some wonderful things in his life very soon. What's important though is that he see that. It's so important to hold on to hope. Without it, there is only despair and dejection.
posted by Kris @ 4:04 PM
2 Comments:
So true, everything is transient in life.
Once you actually recognize the cycles and patterns as such it becomes much easier to relax and not feel the downs as much - but actually focus more objectively on the lessons you need to learn.
I used to get into very dark moods about once or twice a year. Times when I would re-evaluate everything in my life and feel just very depressed. Then, magically, after a while, I would start climbing out of these holes I was buried in and feel happy again.
Now, I guess I still go through these inner turmoils, but realizing that it is just the bottom of the wheel in a cycle - I try to focus on the lessons I ahve to learn. And to grow. It's still not a very happy time in my life, but knowing it is only transient, allows me to focus on the positive.
I agree with the transience of despair and depressions in one’s life, but there are a few things that may be worth noting. These few ideas are a result of me wanting to play a bit of the devil’s advocate, so don’t put too much weight into them.
Perhaps people too readily dismiss disheartening, unpleasant, and semi-tragic happenings in their life. Keeping in mind that lessons do need to be learned, as stated in the previous post, maybe we should consider this learning as intrinsic changes in our disposition or thought (which, I guess, is what a definition of learning may be). Not so much of “I should never do that again, I remember the last time,” but instead a deep-down bottom-up change in behavior and character. This change could be both positive and negative, depending how you look at it.
Secondly, if we consider the troughs of our disposition as transient, than can we not consider the crests equally transient, as well? If the nature of our emotions is sinusoidal, purely, than the cynic would say “good things come in small doses.” This, of course, is the pessimistic approach; however, true cynics won’t admit to their cynicism, they would say they are being realistic. An unfortunate outlook.
And addressing the initial post; how much does one have to endure before hope fades? I’ve known people who have been so affected by events and emotions that they’ve become self-proclaimed nihilists. And knowing some of the details of these events, I don’t believe if I can rightly blame them for their lack of hope. Their want for idealism only leaves them hurting more in the end when they are ultimately let down, and a beaten dog will only take so much before it realizes its master doesn’t love them. Please keep in mind that I’m not referring to a deistic notion here, simply the idealistic “good.” Call this abandonment of hope lack of character if you like, but hearts can break no matter how hard you try to hold them together.
On that note, thanks for keeping me up after my bedtime, Kris (and Naomi). Keep these thought-provoking posts coming.
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