What does discouragement cost?
A quote comes from one of the world’s most-loved comediennes:
“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” ~ Lucille Ball
While I do agree that optimism is the way to go, I think that discouragement can also be a good thing for us at times. Sometimes we have to sit in the bottom of the pit in and wallow around in the muck for a while until we can’t stand it anymore. Eventually you will get to a point where you can’t stand the darkness anymore. From that vantage point, we can study our options and decide the next move to get out of the pit.
Discouragement can often be catalyst for making a change. If you don’t see the negative, then how are you going to tell the difference between what is good and what is bad? If I were Lucille Ball, I would have changed that statement to say it doesn’t pay to STAY discouraged. Just my two cents.
November 6, 2007 at 10:51 pm
It is true, how can you really enjoy the finer things of life unless you have made prior sacrifices? which reminds of: “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?” (PF-ABITW).
November 7, 2007 at 1:05 am
Well said, young sage.