111/365 - Blissful Center

I am starting to feel the stress of these past few months receding and can finally see the sweet slowness of summer just around the corner.  As I get older and hopefully a bit wiser, I have begun to realize that life is much like a pendulum, swinging from joyful seasons to harder times and then back again.  Contrary to what our culture tells us, I've discovered that I really don't need to strive for happiness or attempt to avoid suffering – Life has given me both in equal measure regardless of my efforts to shift the pendulum one way or the other.

The greater challenge is resting in the peaceful centeredness that is suspended between the highs and lows.  I’m learning to appreciate this blissful center more and more, which sometimes lasts only moments, but sometimes is a longer bridge over which I can lazily allow my thoughts and feelings to wander for a time.  It’s in this blissful center that I can truly appreciate the joy and gain some perspective forged by the sorrow that life inevitably brings.  It's as Khalil Gibran says, "Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.  Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced."