A Good Measure More of Soul
Thought of the Day:
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
Helen Keller
Thinking Outside the Box:
Kind of reminds a person of “no pain, no gain.” Or on a deeper level, “The Dark Night of the Soul.” The bottom line, according to Helen Keller, and countless philosophers before her, is that if we do not suffer, we stagnate. Small comfort in the middle of the suffering.
But looking at the nature of our difficulties, trials, and struggles from this point-of-view, allows us to look at them in an entirely different light. I had a friend who used to say, “If it doesn”t kill you, it will make you stronger.” At the time, the thought was unwanted and certainly unappreciated. But he was right.
Consider for a moment, a piece of wood. Perhaps a piece that will be made into a chair or table leg. You know the kind - the scrolling, shaping that so beautifully displays the wood grain. That chair leg only looks that way now because it was exposed to friction, heat, and all of the power tools that sound like a Sunday morning. Before power tools, there were chisels and other hand tools that still inflicted the same stress on the wood and still resulted in the beautifully finished piece of sculptured furniture.
The point is that we don”t need to look for stresses or trouble to enter our life. They will happen whether we need them or not. The thing to remember is that the hard times will pass and we will emerge on the other side - wiser, experienced, and with a good measure more of soul.
Some Last Thoughts:
“It is often better to be in chains than to be free.”
Franz Kafka
“History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”
James Joyce (and yes, this is related - ponder a bit)
“There”ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover, Tomorrow, just you wait and see.”
Nat Burton (1941 - WWII)
“The priest persuades humble people to endure their hard lot; The politician urges them to rebel against it; and the scientist thinks of a method that does away with the hard lot altogether.”
Max Perutz
“I”ve looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose and still somehow
It”s life”s illusions I recall;
I really don”t know life at all.”
Joni Mitchell
Technorati Tags: Suffering, Grief, Life and Living
