The Whole

“Did you guys know all this stuff about him when you decided to name me? That he was paranoid, suicidal, friendless, depressed?”

“You forgot to mention that he was also a genius.”

This quotation is from the film The Namesake, where the protagonist, Gogol, has discovered he was named after Russian author Nicolai Gogol. This quotation compliments many of the more recent posts in that while we would like to avoid discomfort and negative emotions, they are part of the experience. I continue to accept the fact that often things that seem overwhelming and difficult provide useful lessons to grow and move forward. It’s sort of like the theme song from The Facts of Life - you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you have the facts of life. I’m sorry if that’s going to be stuck in your head now. However, it’s important to remember Hal Holbrook’s quote from Wall Street about staring into the abyss and finding your character, which keeps you out of the abyss.

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I wholeheartedly agree Stephen…you cannot appreciate the good if you don’t experience the bad is how my grandmother always put it.