"It's too much," one participant inserted, almost angrily. "There is sorrow in our lives, as in all lives, How can we be always joyful?"

 

Discussion moved around the group, each participant adding a thought or a vignette that seemed only to deepen the quandary.

 

The pauses grew lengthier. Finally Bonnie spoke, attempting to sum up what she knew of both the tragic results of confusing vision with "feeling" and the treachery of the trap of control: "We can evperience both joy and sorrow, even at the same time, for joy and sorrow are not opposites," she began. "It is not joy and sorrow, but their opposites, that cause damage - for the opposite of joy is cynicism and the opposite of sorrow is callousness.

 

"Cynicism," she continued, "is rooted in the assumption that everyone is always in control. Callousness is the inability to feel that follows from the fear of losing control." ~ The Spirituality of Imperfection