“Well Billy Rapped All Night…”

 

” What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are Your mercies in disguise? ”
Yasmin Mogahed

 

Through social media I have made many connections and many friends. Many of them quite a bit younger in their twenties and thirties and I find that this, together with watching my son struggle through his teenage years gives me more perspective and possibly less forget-ery about how rough it is to grow up in this world. I also feel that it is becoming more difficult rather than easier. The world wide web allows us to see other people in their struggles and triumphs and we can see lives that could be ours if only we could break away from where we were. The fact that many of the people living these lives also wish that they could break away is quite besides the point.
Lately tho it seems that every week or two, one or another of my Facebook acquaintances talks about life being too rough. They talk quite a bit about ending their lives and one or two even attempt to do so. Luckily, very few of the people I’ve known who talk about ending it on social media are successful at doing so. Friends find them and get them help or they talk themselves out of it. Perhaps once or twice I have had a hand in talking them out of it myself. Funny given my views on the subject.
You see I feel that we all have the right to end our lives any time we wish. No one else can know first hand the struggles that another goes through or what their capacity may be. I feel that most times it is a somewhat selfish act as in almost all cases, loved ones are left behind who have to deal with it. Yet some pain goes beyond that. I also believe in reincarnation and as I have told a few people, “No matter how rough this life feels now, how do you know that the next time around won’t be even rougher.
Even tho that to me is a powerful argument, there is one that has always clinched it. I am too curious to see what is going to happen next both to myself and to the external (sic) world. My life has been far from normal with some truly bizarre twists. I know that things can change in a moment. There are so many things going on in this world and the balance is so precarious that I am at the edge of my seat wondering what is next to come. These are the things that keep me going through the rough times. Well, that and I have others who emotionally depend on me and to leave them would be both irresponsible and reprehensible. Plus I have realized that happiness is quite often a choice as is misery and that in the worst of times a golden moment can come.
Blessings, G

 

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Watching Dragons in FlightWatching Dragon’s In Flight by G A Rosenberg

 

Blue FlameBlue Flame by G A Rosenberg

 

Quote of the Day – March 2 2012

“If someone told me that I could live my life again free of depression provided I was willing to give up the gifts depression has given me–the depth of awareness, the expanded consciousness, the increased sensitivity, the awareness of limitation, the tenderness of love, the meaning of friendship, the apreciation of life, the joy of a passionate heart–I would say, ‘This is a Faustian bargain! Give me my depressions. Let the darkness descend. But do not take away the gifts that depression, with the help of some unseen hand, has dredged up from the deep ocean of my soul and strewn along the shores of my life. I can endure darkness if I must; but I cannot lie without these gifts. I cannot live without my soul.’ (p. 188)”
― David Elkins, Beyond Religion: A Personal Program for Building a Spiritual Life Outside the Walls of Traditional Religion

What parts of my life have contributed to make me who I am? Has my pain equipped me to not only appreciate joy more but to emphasize with the pain of others? Has working through my pain shown me strength and grace? Elkins makes a strong case for depression and indeed every other emotion.
If I could lead my life free of these negative emotions I may be happier or more content but I would not be me.
Blessings and very sleepy greetings from UK,
G

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