"There is no quality in this world
that is not what it is merely by contrast.
Nothing exists in itself."
-- Herman Melville
For most of my life, I thought of contrast as being opposites. As an example, let's use love and hate, joy and despair, happiness and depression. But, I have found that contrast need not be so stark, and in fact, see these things as white or black is not helpful generally.
They say that we cannot experience joy without despair, or that we must experience hate in order to appreciate love and so on. All this is way off the point.
Here's a better way to see this: Love and the absence of love, joy and the absence of joy, happiness and the absence of happiness. When I look at it from this perspective it helps me immensely to move forward. I no longer need to get down and out in order to find up and in. I just recognize the absence of that which I want and so then focus on the fulfillment rather than the absence. I know that sounds simple and it truly is just that.
In addition to that, there are so many levels of love; so many levels of happiness; so many levels of joy, so I can go from joy, level 1 to joy, level 6, or if that is too much of a jump, I can go from level 1 to level 2 or 3. In any case, I don't actually have to leave joy in order to see the contrast and to want more joy in my life and then move toward it.
No longer do we need to have bad with our good. We can have good with our good. No longer do we have to have good or bad. We can have just good.
I'm Good With Good. I Don't Need To Leave Good To Have Better. I Can Just Decide.
Spread Some Joy Today--Start with yourself. What can you do, or what can you think about that will give you joy today? Do and think that.
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