Quote of the day Monday...

Today is a special quote day as it is the first ever guest post quote!! Today, the quote comes from Ramblin' Bess. If you would like to see her fab blog just click the link...

I have to admit, I received this quotation in my inbox from the Happiness Project the other day. So, no, it’s not highly original. But it struck a chord with me. Why? We all know crappy things happen, and that sucks. Wouldn’t it be nice if it didn’t completely suck?

                          

You’ve probably heard the sentiment that you can’t fully appreciate the good in life without experiencing the bad. After all, if you’ve had a float-on-a-boat life, you don’t really know how great it is—you have nothing to compare it to.

What the two lines have in common is the idea that bad things aren’t necessarily all bad. They help you appreciate the good and put things in perspective. But this quote takes this idea further. I think Marilynne Robinson is also saying that when everything is going normally, you are less likely to contemplate your life; instead you unthinkingly go along with the status quo. But when something awful happens, you become more aware of the fragility and transience of life and better able to tell the difference between what matters and what doesn’t. 

I looked up this quote and realized it’s from Robinson’s novel Gilead . In the book, a father writes this line to his son as he’s trying to convey life lessons to him. Learning that made me think this passage is also about sharing “what matters” with others. We probably all have the ability to effect change in our lives, but a lot of times, we just don’t. Which brings me to my last point. I also believe this quote is about trying to remember the important things in life even during the most normal times.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t need a crisis to wake us up? 

If you would like to guest 'quote' just send an email my way:

takeallchances {at} gmail {dot} com