Life isn’t free.
There’s a cost to every choice we make and every delight that comes our way.
Sometimes, it’s expensive and sometimes it isn’t.
Once in a while there’s a sale.
But for every great love, there will come a day of great grief.
For every moment of fulfillment there will be a moment of despair.
And even as we feel joy, we know the feeling of sadness.
Because life is all about contrasts. How would we know what true joy was if we had never felt sadness?
I’m like everyone else–guilty of wanting life to be only about the good moments, the juicy stuff. I don’t want to be sad. Fall on hard times. Or deal with difficult things.
But we signed on to live this life and life encompasses it all. The entire range of emotion. The whole enchilada.
So yes, to appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, we have to stand out in the cold. But that doesn’t take a thing away from the beauty we’re seeing. And even knowing that snowflake is transient doesn’t mean we appreciate it any less.
I don’t have to apply this lesson to life because I know you already know this. And so do I.
But sometimes, it’s good to remind ourselves.
Such a great reminder! From time to time I meet young people who haven’t experienced tough things in life, and they openly admit to being afraid when things don’t go as planned. They don’t know how to cope. Even as a kid I learned that so I feel sorry for them.
Just went through a reminder of this with the passing of my mother just before the start of our new adventure. I do love the analogy of the snowflake because it’s so true. You might see them from the inside of your house and sure, they might stick to your window. But to really appreciate them, to see them up close you need to be outside in the middle of a cold snow storm.
A great reminder. My parents used to say “No pain no gain” often – not necessarily physical pain, but you have to endure the not so nice things to appreciate the best things! Like your snowflake idea, we have to go out into the cold to see the beauty of the snowflake!