Valley Today, Hill Tomorrow

Life is a never-ending cycle of joyous phases (hills) and sad phases (valleys).   Realizing this fact is the first step to comfortably get through the valleys in one’s life.   Letting sad moments drain one’s energy causes negativity and will delay the arrival of joyous moments. 

Either from a scientific or from a spiritual perspective, valleys always happen for a reason.  For instance, if you did not fare well at a job interview, there is a good chance that there is a better job awaiting your expertise.  Understanding this will give you a positive attitude to use the failed interview for self-improvement; this will help to fare better and succeed in the next interview.  However, if you become bitter about the failed interview, your negativity will prevent further growth and will discourage you from being persistent in your job hunt.  Being true to the heart with genuine intentions will shorten the valley phases in life. 

Most sad phases happen due to things out of one’s control – so, dwelling on it will not change the situation.  Instead, it is better to figure out how the situation can be resolved to get back on the journey up the hill.  For instance, if there is a natural death in the family it would help to focus on the positive memoirs the deceased to bring about closure rather than focusing on trying to figure out how the natural death could have been delayed or prevented.  The former positive reaction will help to bring about life adjustments faster.  The latter negative reaction will delay such adjustments and will prolong the grieving phase.  As another example, when we are struck with a physical ailment, we are thrown off our regular schedule.  Trying to push ourselves through the ailment to complete our daily routines and feeling negative will only delay the healing.  Instead accepting the phase with a positive attitude and making appropriate modifications to our regular schedule will not only speed up the healing but will also enlighten us about possible preventative measures for similar ailments in the future.

It is easier to see positivity during the valleys by sharing with others.  Helping others going through valleys only makes sense because it will not be long before one’s own valley phase approaches. 

Accepting the facts that valleys are inevitable and that they do not last forever makes it more manageable when one finds oneself in such a phase.