Even in sad circumstances say, "Thank you for this problem, for this necessity."

Preferring pleasure over pain, sweet over bitter, light over dark, problems start to become seen as problems only.

Something is wrong. Something is in need of fixing. I want this to go away.

Take a moment to consider a difficult or sad situation you are in the middle of, or recently came through.

What if we looked at the input we are receiving without labelling it? It could be a person, a relationship dynamic, a power struggle, a health issue, or an inner monologue about the way things are.

What if we can just observe the thing without giving it a label?

Amongst others, the labelling of it cuts it off from everything else, and makes it look larger and stronger than it really is. There are many, many other things in the background that are well and good that get obscured with hyper focusing on the thing that hurts.

Nothing lasts forever. Or, as the poet Rilke beautifully once put it, "No feeling is final."

Nature is in control and knows (and tests) your limits. The thing that hurts will not exceed your threshold and, as soon as it approaches that mark, either it will retreat or the antidote will be given. This we must trust.

As the grindstone polishes, so do our sad circumstances polish us to become more fully alive and well.

They are wake up calls sent from beyond to call our attention to something in need of balancing or healing. And they come and go like waves, which means you could miss out.

In this way, the difficulty loses the label of "bad." We can then merge with it, instead of separate ourselves and look for quick fixes.

This does not mean our daily lives in the midst of pain will be filled with abundant joy and happiness but they can be filled with serenity and stillness instead, which is another form of love.

Even sadness is sweet when approached as a friend.