Happiness is peculiar in that it can be paradoxically obtained through disciplined sacrifices or from cultivating gratitude. Consider for a moment that there is more sunlight than there are trees to receive. Why struggle so?
The peculiarities don’t end there. How many trees do you know that are so straight that they tear the sky? Why should your accent to heaven be any more direct? Lightening never take a straight path, and yet it lights the whole sky. Would Rumi be the hidden ruby, his words the flame?
Flames waver, flounder in the deserts they create, their seeds scattered like stars. Future fires will rage and die in their own exhausted moments. All stones must be chiseled till their flaws are found perfectly.
The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along- Rumi.
So, it was Rumi who started that fire? No, but he caught that spark from an errant star.
Accepting the paradoxical truth that ‘in gaining strength you learn kindness is the way,’ results in indominable wisdom. True strength is not merely physical or intellectual, but also moral and compassionate. When we become stronger in our abilities, whether it be in business, sports, or personal growth, we often encounter situations where we can exert our power over others.
However, the more we grow and mature, the more we realize that genuine strength is not just about imposing our will, but also about exercising empathy, generosity, and compassion towards others.
Trees are known to bend to allow a seedling to experience light. In the shadows of the earth, they secretly share nutrients. Rarely do people know how much love trees actually share. That is love not seeking its own through applause. The forest is enough reward.
The forest becomes stronger in its diversity of sharing space and love. Love is not the same as sunshine precisely, though it is as abundant, I dare say more so, but rather it is the knowledge that there is enough to go around. Here, have some.
In other words, as we grow stronger, we learn that kindness is the path to true strength, not just in our relationships with others, but in our own self-development. By being kind and understanding to those around us, we build trust, respect, and long-lasting relationships that are more meaningful and fulfilling than any material success. Ultimately, in gaining strength, we come to understand that kindness is the way to live a rich and meaningful life, both for ourselves and for others.
This returns us to disciplined sacrifice. If you give till your cup is empty, how will you quench anyone’s thirst? It is right to give. It is also right to allow others to fill their own cups. Give quietly, in the shade, and shadows of the earth, lest applause deafens you.
Let others have time in the sun, too. Trust their strength. Let them test their own strengths, which leads to kindness. They must know they are strong to realize how kind they truly are. Bow, humbly, so they see the light.
Bow, humbly, to see their light, which is also your light. Ultimately, we are this.
There are some pretty disturbing looking trees, but their beauty is in the duration, the path taken, and how they endured even this. Regardless of the shape or size or symmetry or lack thereof, all the leaves will laugh and cry and fall away. The seasons of us are witnessed not in the moment, but in the perspective there is something bigger than this, than us- the cycles of light, dark, doubt in the form of ambiguous skies, and rain.
Happiness is rarely found in the moment, and when captured- it is too quickly exhausted, the moment gone, like kisses remembered, which even that echo diminishes in time. Enduring happiness is only rediscovered in hindsight, and the subtle realization that the oceans still sounds against the beach. It will never cease the caresses of this love affair.
It is more than nostalgia. Don’t chase the heart beats of life, but find the melody in its currents.
‘Be happy’ means go big, finding joy in the small that has slipped past us like drops of rain, or tears of stars, or like these words from a whispered dream, from that love who was always with me. It’s all love.
Go, be happy. You got this.
john and loxy
12:15am
