No Joy Without Pain

I remember my first epiphany with joy and pain was when I was about sixteen years old. It was in my AP English class and I do not even remember what book we were discussing, but the topic came up of the spectrum of joy to pain. Although I do not remember where the discussion went or what point was ultimately being made I know what I took from it that has been significant in my life the past twelve years.


You cannot feel the greatest joys without experiencing pain. If life was always just fine than it would be pretty mundane-- you would avoid much of the heartache, but you would deprive yourself of the pure joys in life. One would surely crave pain and trials knowing the rewards that would follow.

Now that I am a mother child birth is one of the first examples that comes to mind or the pain you endure to bring a new life into the world, but there are so many things we endure in our lives that make the moments of joy shine even brighter. Anyways, I could go on, but I just had that on my mind last night as I pondered on my life's twists and turns in the last five years.

So here is a reminder for me and the rest of you that the greatest happiness we feel in this life would never be felt without the character building experiences in our lives.