tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8089549.post8171632233241563180..comments2010-07-06T10:41:02.483-06:00Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00859587023994519842noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8089549.post-24942722275194742222010-07-06T10:41:02.446-06:002010-07-06T10:41:02.446-06:00it reminds me to live in the moment and be present. <br /><br />beautiful post.julia vandenoeverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09566190147895299611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8089549.post-3357345190169153442010-07-02T12:20:08.382-06:002010-07-02T12:20:08.382-06:00I first read this post last night and though I felt compelled to comment immediately, I wanted to sit with it for a bit. <br /><br />I&#39;ve experienced my share of loss, sorrow and hardship, some of which hit a fever pitch a few years ago, actually leaving me wondering whether I&#39;d be alive in six months (I am still alive and kicking, thank-you-very-much). And quite often I find myself trying to make sense of it. <br /><br />It is, of course, always easier to consider hardship in the rearview mirror, but it has comforted me in the past to remember that there have been as many highs for me as there have been lows; that I&#39;ve had as much joy as I&#39;ve had pain--and perhaps the balance even happened to tip in favor of joy; that I wouldn&#39;t be the person I am today, with the things I now know with every atom of my being, had I not walked the Valley of Shadows. <br /><br />Kahlil Gibran writes: “Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” And it may have also been Gibran--though I&#39;ve searched high and low since last night, and can&#39;t find the exact quote--who wrote something like: You may avoid tests and difficulties but know that you will not experience the greatest heights of joy unless you experience the greatest depths of misery.amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07531259432414652328noreply@blogger.com