Kahlil Gibran wrote – “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.”
I first read this profound insight of Khalil Gibran in the book “The Profit” over three decades ago, and it changed my view of emotions. Emotions are a continuum; sorrow is the same emotion as joy, just on the opposite end of the continuum.
Not long ago, there was great sorrow in my family. But I couldn’t help noticing that I felt joy even as I wept, which prompted me to share these thoughts with you. Sorrow doesn’t scare me anymore. By fully embracing it, being present in it, feeling the pain and understanding its cause, I know that in time I can release it and unmask my joy.
It takes courage to learn to embrace sorrow; it took me years to crack my emotional shell to begin to be honest with my feelings. Often, we’re afraid we’ll remain sad if we embrace the emotion, but if you embrace your sorrow with a belief that it’s fleeting, it passes and joy emerges.
Emotions like joy and sorrow and outcomes like failure and success are continuums.
You might think, “What if it doesn’t work out? What if I fail?” Consider that failure is the other end of the continuum of success. Failure deepens the joy of success. Don’t be afraid to fail; you will fail many times in the process of attaining success.
Each of our emotions exists for a reason; why would you have sorrow if it didn’t serve you?
Without sorrow, there is no joy.
Without failure, there is no success.
Without fear, there is no confidence.
P.S. This post applies only to healthy people without emotional disorders.
