Two Sides of the Same Coin - Dichotomy of Life

Everything in Life is dual in nature !! Strange as it sounds, but it remains a fact.
The day dawns on us as the sun rises, and as we toil through the day, we wait for the bliss of night, and as the sun sets, it rests our tired body mind and souls. As we look forward to another day, we look to rest too. In the height of monsoon, we long for the cool weather and we are awaiting the winter months - time for festivals - heights of our cultural gait and then we unwind - letting our hair down thru christmas and new year parties... As we wear ourselves down, we look forward for the spring and the warmth of the sun - exam time vacation - and then long for the skies to give us the elixir of life thru rain ... And so goes on life - day & night , monsoon --> winter --> spring --> summer, year after year...

Just as the changing times and as we expect it with open arms - with a mindset to receive it clockwise - our minds are most often not tuned to the ups and downs of life. We refuse to see that after every bright spot is also a moment of sadness - an opportunity to reflect and count our blessings. I believe that mountains are beautiful because of its deep ravines and valleys - i get philosophical in life. This belief was further strengthened by Swamiji who elucidated this point through a Zen story and wrapped it in the sublime power of simplicity :
A Zen master was rowing a boat with his disciple who was perplexed with life's sadness and happiness. To make his point - the Zen master started rowing on only one side. As with the laws of rowing - the boat started to go in circles - and they were no longer heading towards their destination. Now the Disciple understood the meaning which was explained by the Master - Life's journey has the good and the bad and both need to go in hand to reach our destination - to complete the journey.

Look at a coin - Just as you have the heads - so too the tails are necessary to complete the coin !!
Much simpler said - and less understood. The diamond is a product of compression of coals for millions of years - the most cherished product by millions world wide. Brilliance of the diamond is complemented by the years of hiding in the crust of the earth !! Strange but true.. Look at every great personality on this earth. They have not achieved their title or status by virtue of being a common man. Their dedication, perseverance and toil (here is am not making judgements of the good and the bad people - cos i firmly believe that the so call evil doers too have toiled hard for the wrong reasons) have gained them their stature. Every glory has a gory story but not necessarily all gory stories have a glorious representative - their choice maybe different.

The dichotomy of life as much as a complex phenomena, it may appear - needs to be lived and enjoyed every moment. As children when we dont get into too much of analysis of this - it blows away like a wind, but as we traverse through the many facets and roles of life - we complicate it and look for answers - when in reality they are deep within. So lets face life with the child-like abandon and the two sides of the same coin can be accepted with open wanton - a life to cherish and enjoy !!