Wish i was smart enough to think of all these postings I put up here, but to be honest, a lot of what I find is from various things I read. I thought this was interesting.
It’s easy to complain when something goes wrong, it’s easy to notice what we’ve missed. Take the last two years, for example. So many of us have focused on what we’ve been deprived of. The people we haven’t been able to see. The places we haven’t been able to go. The opportunities lost.
The problem in focusing on what we miss, the Stoics say, is that it misses all the things we gain. Or could have gained had we decided to see the obstacle as the way, if we had seen the opportunities that each situation presented. The funny thing about focusing on what we miss though, is that we also often miss the other things that we miss. Which, if we fully understood the implications, would create an immense sense of gratitude.
As Cicero explains, “you may say that deaf men miss the pleasure of hearing a lyre-player’s songs. Yes, but they also miss the squeaking of a saw being sharpened, the noise a pig makes when its throat is being cut, the roaring thunder of the sea which prevents other people from sleeping.”
Seeing the light means you will also feel the darkness when the light is gone. That’s the deal. So instead of thinking about all the things you’ve lost during this pandemic, think of what you have gained instead. And once you’re done with that, also take a minute to think about all the painful things you missed too. There are upsides even to downsides. Deprivations, if considered properly, contain small mercies too.
