How Can True Happiness Be Attained Through Sadness?
Happiness is a feeling which we consider as our birth right. Almost every motivational guru is telling us how to be happy and positive in life and how to override any feeling of negativity or sadness that holds us back from being happy or positive in life? But can you really be positive without learning what’s it like to embrace negativity? Can there really be any light without darkness?
Happiness and sadness are two sides of a coin, just as light is to dark and negative is to positive. We can never be really happy if we do not know how to accept and embrace sadness. Everything in life is temporary. No moment or phase in life is ever permanent. We can never appreciate the beauty of light till we have not experienced the dark. Stars shine the brightest and the moon's beauty is at its best only in the dark. Even in the movies that we watch, there’s no 'happily-ever-after' without the hero and the heroine suffering for a major part of the movie.
But a major reason why we find it difficult to acknowledge sadness is because most self-help stuff don’t talk about accepting sadness as a part of life. We are only taught how to be happy and why should we do things that make us happy. But what most people fail to realize is that it is the everyday struggles that shape our lives, and sadness is an emotion as important as happiness. So, don’t be too hard on yourself if you are feeling the blues.
The pursuit of happiness has led us to fear sadness. While what everyone wants is to be happy, it is not our real teacher. If you were to look back in life and share the lessons and experiences that have shaped you to be the person that you are today, it will only be from your experiences of sadness, frustration, hurt and failure.
While a positive state of mind gives you the satisfaction that all is well, it might take your attention away from the fact that life is a constant work in progress. When you are happy, you tend to be less alert and more casual. Sadness or a negative emotion is a reality check of sorts, which draws your attention towards an area of your life that needs work and makes you appreciate the people and successes in life more than you would otherwise.
Pen down your thoughts and feelings. While most motivational gurus advice on jotting down a happy moment or an achievement, it is equally important to pen down your feelings when going through a down phase. For some, it might seem difficult to share them with your close ones, but penning your feelings down will help you live in the moment and towards the end, you will feel a major load shaken off your chest.
It will help clarify and organize your thoughts and can be a real stress buster. Cry and vent out if you have to. Just remember, not to keep your feelings bottled up. Let them out.
It’s only when we are lost, we realize our potential of finding our way out and the joy that it brings can be matched to none. Sadness is what teaches the real value of happiness. Life is not a bed of roses and the sooner we accept the fact, the better we will be able to cope with the challenges of life and the more we learn to accept and embrace pain and sadness, the greater we will learn to value happiness.
