September 29, 2022
Are you confused yet? Life is rarely straightforward. You can almost always find the “good” in bad circumstances and the “bad” in good circumstances….or people… or things. There is always a principle of yin and yang at play. Like anger. Anger in itself is not a bad emotion, even though we tend to categorize it as a not-so-good emotion (not in the “feel-good” category anyway). But emotions are neutral and how we respond to it is what really counts. Anger, if we let it lead us, can provoke us to stupidity or challenge us to put our foot down and finally do that great thing. We are both good and bad People too, are a myriad of both good and bad. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not all good. I am human and there is both good and bad in me. I am good at some aspects and bad at others. I’m just glad there are others to balance me out (like my wife – thank you Kate). Yin and Yang – No shadow without light This idea of balancing comes from the principle of Yin and Yang which is a belief that “all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites”. Let’s think about some everyday examples – female-male, day-night and old-young. There is just something about opposites that attract and complement each other. In fact, some opposites almost depend on one another to shine. For example, there is simply no shadow without light and what is goodness without evil? Modernizing the principle The concept of yin-yang has a long history. There are many written records...