The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?– Kahlil Gibran
For me the cup is always half full. You don’t fully appreciate the sunshine without the rain.
There are stages of excitement.
Stage 1: Anticipation.
This is almost better than the event, object, or adventure itself. You dream of what will or can happen. Isn’t half of the fun of going out getting ready with your friends? Isn’t the reason you bungee jump for the dizziness of expectation before hand? This is the stage where excitement, possibility, desire and nerves ignite to create butterflies about what is to come. “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”
Stage 2: Full immersion
This is the event phase. You’re in it. It’s hard to do but stop every now and then to take a breath and recognize where you are and why your pulse is racing. You are in excitement. You are excitement. The sunshine sparkles, laughs are louder, everyone is more beautiful. You feel ablaze with satisfaction and it shoots off from you like fireworks.
Stage 3: Satisfaction
That “ahh” feeling. Nostalgia sets in and there is a small sense of disappointment. This is the stage where you come down from the rush. Inevitably, you will think back and realize wow, it’s over so quickly. But this is the part of excitement that will last forever. This is what you will take from the butterflies. This is where the footprints in the sands of memory will carry you into future excitements. And it will change, this memory. It will fade and distort depending on what comes next. But every new excitement is fortified and accelerated by the innate recall of what it was like to anticipate and to be immersed.
Life is one crazy, combined swirl of anticipation, immersion and recovery from excitement. Think of it as a cup, half full of course, with drops of red, green and blue swirl to create a helix of greatness. You are always anticipating, always experiencing and always remembering. Don’t cheat yourself; sit back and enjoy the swirl.
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