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I don't care what walk of life your from. As I see it, life itself is a gift. The ability to feel a hug, smell a flower, see a sunset, taste a cookie, or even to be able to have these thoughts is precious. Equaly important and precious is the ability to feel pain, smell and taste that which is unpleasant, and see things that may be repulsive, or to feel the hurt of utter rejection. Their is no good without the bad, but that does not mean one must let the bad consume them. Better to have it as a reminder of how truly magical existence is. Truly they are one thing after all as they are inderdependant. Thus made more perfect by their own imperfection. And so to experience what we call life is a wonderous thing for both its grief and joy. Because aferall life is illogical and full of oppisites. I think st.Francis put it well in his prayer
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

So well put! The concepts of recieving by giving, and therefore finding gain in loss, happyness, in sadness, are so well expressed! I'm not quite sure how to put it better than he has. Its the idea of giving for the sake of giving alone, and recieving the knowledge that you have done so is the true reward. The goal not being personal gain but rather the gain of others, and then recieving the fact that perhaps you have made someone's life better is all that you need in return. Again, more opposites, and ideas that are no to be logicaly understood or explained but simply accepted. I can't give you a logical reason to why they should be acceptedreally:-\. I suppose its because it makes life easier for people and so that we are kinder to eachother. I think its unfortunate that so often we ignore our oppurtunitys to help others. I thnk its also unfortunate that so few recognize the beauty around them during this short window of oppurtunity we have to see it. This is not to say that I never miss oppurtunitys or made mistakes. We are all a work in progress and despite what mistakes I have made it wont stop me from working to correct them in the now.

As the forest is ravaged by the fire so is it's wounds also quenched by the rains
And it grows greater and more beutiful for each fire that it endures
neither does it deny the lumberjack to destroy it for his own purposes
but simply continues to give despite how its beauty begins to wane and fade as a result
and thus as it shrinks to less and less
its worth becomes more and more