The Paradox of Life: Joy and Pain

"That's the paradox of this living on this earth, that in the midst of great pain,
you can have great joy as well."
-Kathy Mattea

No matter how much we want to deny it when the going gets tough, we can have joy in the midst of pain. The key to having joy is to choose it.

Two months ago, I made a choice that marked a turning point in my young adult life.  A HUGE choice. THE huge choice.  For years I felt I wanted to let be or postpone the "good" things in life (e.i. relationships, recreational activities, marriage, etc.) until I felt good again, because I couldn't really enjoy them now (half the time I could hardly get out of the house for heavens sake!).  But I came to the realization that I was allowing the pain to have a death-grip on my life, and why in the world was I letting it do that in the first place?!?  I was not going to let this pain control me any longer. No siree!!  I decided I was not going to let my pain stand in my way and prevent me from moving forward.

I recall a gal in church recently commenting that when we make good choices, "There is power that comes with that choice." After I made my choice, I had to put forth a LOT more physical, social and emotional effort than usual to push past the pain and push outside myself into uncomfortable territory. But with those things came power and help from the Lord and immediately blessings began to pour down on me. Those blessings have brought great joy into my life. That joy has sustained me the past couple of months. It's interesting how a good period of your life can be followed up by, or simultaneous to a rough one. I have found that these past two months have been wonderful and amazing, so full of blessings and answered prayers. They have been so joyful.  At the same time, I've had a few new problems pop up and they've been extremely taxing, both physically and emotionally and have left me, many days, completely drained from sun-up to sun-down. I haven't been able to get on top of them, no matter how hard I try. It seems I'm hitting a brick wall with every attempt to understand and resolve the situations. I may not have the answers yet, but they are out there somewhere!

The message today is one of gratitude, happiness and joy!!! You can have great joy in the midst of great pain. It is possible! Maybe not everyday. Maybe not every week; for there is pain that is so deep that it has to be worked through. I've worked through part of mine, and I'll continue to work through it each and every day. When I wake up each morning, I have to recommit myself to "Look Up!" as Pres. Monson would say.

When you wake up tomorrow morning, what will you choose?

A moment of joy with Maeg's on a particularly painful day!