Somehow today I feel like touching the topic of pain and joy. Something that we want to avoid and keep to ourselves respectively. "Respectively"; that's the word that's of importance here to most of us. Or so we are made to believe. That we should be looking for and something that's good, something that makes us and others happy. But over a certain of period of time, I realized that pain is inevitable and rather a very necessary entity in life.
Let me give an example. Throughout my curriculum in my Masters, life has been crazy. Assignments and projects made me stay up till 3 & 4 AM, and the early morning job gave me 1- 11/2 hours of sleep kinda just enough for sleep to prove its point throughout the day that "yes, we rule you". And then there are no excuses. Whether at work or attending lectures after that, or crosschecking your concepts before you click on that "Submit" button when submitting assignments online. There is simply no excuse, no matter how hard you try. 2-3 days in a week without sleep at night or few hours of sleep had become a thumb rule. And then comes along this semester. With simply research to finish off the course, there are no assignments, no labs, no deadlines. "I would be so happy with absolutely no pressure in life", was my presumption. It was fun initially, no much work, no worries. And then it starts getting on your nerves. And that's when I realized how much I loved that life even though I used to crib, complain and wait for that golden time of relaxation then. And it further reinforced my belief that pain by itself is what makes this life worth living. Pain is necessary for relief to make its presence felt. Relief and comfort by itself have no meaning at all in this life. Not without their complements.
And I realized that this is what our life is all ever about. There are downs and then there are ups which we crave for. If you understand simple high-school physics, then let me try explaining this concept. Consider your life as a fast moving vehicle on a straight line. Is it possible to suddenly go upwards? No. Not without a depression. The depression exists only to thrust you upwards. Get the point? We would never ever know what "good" is; unless we know what "bad" is like. And even if we had all good in life, we would never really value it. And its always the rare and hard to find things that are treasured in life. Whether it is money after a series of misery, a love after a series of heartbreaks, or success after a long series of rejections and dejection's. Its inescapable and its necessary.
And then comes along the times of the better, the craved for opposites. Does it not become surprisingly easy to go towards what we want then? There are no hesitations, no second thoughts, no uncertainty. Its all so clear, as if you could somehow feel what that guy up there has in mind for you. Was this possible without the darker side?
The wrong paths are necessary, the pain necessary, the darkness necessary and the uncertainty & worries necessary. Its only after we know what they are that we can recognize their counterparts. And without them life is incomplete and meaningless in a way we could not imagine.
