I felt my heart soften, and harden, and then soften again… For innumerable times as I read this book. The stories and replies seem to reveal some of the deepest emotions and feelings human beings could experience. Reading the stories made me slightly pessimistic at first. Why is there so much suffering in the world?
But towards the end of the book, I felt a change. It was no longer “why is there suffering”, but more of “there is suffering, BUT..”
But there is always a choice. But there is always a way out, as long as we want it badly enough. But things will get better. But we will survive. But we will get there. But it’s ok!
As I introspect, I go on to realise that I myself, like so many of the letter writers to the column, suffer mainly because of the difficult emotions within, because we don’t know how to handle them, and allow them to manifest in dysfunctional thought processes and words and actions which end up harming ourselves and others more.
I am reminded of some wise words, that we need to learn how to embrace our difficult emotions as well as the “good” emotions. Because our difficult emotions are part of us too, and like everything and everyone else, all they want is to be accepted. Embraced. Validated. We need to learn how to take care of our emotions, instead of bashing ourselves up over them. This is one point of living “Tiny Beautiful Things” has highlighted for me. Only when we have accepted the presence and of our difficult circumstances and emotions without judgement, can we begin to move forward and make changes in the direction we want.
Along Life's Path 