New glasses frames can be difficult to select, don’t you think? Sure, there is always a wide variety in the store, but only a few will look good on your specific face shape, size, and skin tone. Not to mention price range can be a limiting factor, too.
The new glasses frames I wound up with are a black and white combination. A bit more sedated from my last pair of purple leopard skin print with gold trim… somehow, they charmed me. Each of the colors, black and white, are still distinct. And yet, they work together in harmony. In the absence of color, they each provide depth and dimensionality to the other.
It reminds me of a great yoga lesson.
The practice of yoga is about finding balance between 2 opposing forces. One could think that means finding the middle ground between the 2 forces, to find a new place equidistant from each extreme, for example the color grey.
This is one possibility of how to balance two extremes.
Another possibility, though, is to see two extremes as both being necessary to life, to recognize they both exist in equal amounts, and to understand each one has its appropriate moment to shine. Let me share a story that highlights this concept:
The Farmer and His Horse
There lived in a small village, a farmer. The farmer owned a single horse, who helped him plow the fields. The horse was a very hard worker, and enjoyed doing the jobs tasked to them.
One day, the fence broke and the horse accidentally got lost. The farmer was left to do all the difficult plowing by his own hands.
All the villagers told the farmer, “Oh, you are so unlucky!” To which the farmer replied, Maybe.
After some time, the horse found the farm again. Horses are naturally herd animals, and so when they returned, the horse returned with several other horses, too.
All the villagers told the farmer, “Oh, you are so lucky!” To which the farmer replied, Maybe.
The farmer’s son was tasked with taming the additional, wild horses so that they could learn how to be useful around the farm. In the process, the son was thrown from a horse, and broke his leg.
With the son’s leg now in a cast, all the villagers told the farmer, “Oh, you are so unlucky!” To which the farmer replied, Maybe.
Then, the army came to town, looking for new recruits to enlist and send to war with the neighboring country. The farmer’s son was passed over due to his broken leg.
All the villagers told the farmer, “Oh, you are so lucky!” To which the farmer replied, Maybe.
Although that’s where the parable ends, the reader gets a sense that this back and forth goes on forever. One of the lessons we learn is that in life, there is no one status or situation which is beneficial 100% of the time. When we look at the two events of the story – the horse running away, and the son breaking his leg, can we say which is positive, which is negative, which is black, which is white? Everything depends on context.
Black and white always exist side by side, and they can flip from one to the other in any given moment.
My new glasses are a wonderful reminder of this fact of life. And, I think it is a beautiful metaphor that those are now the glasses I will look through to see the world. The next time a situation occurs that I find unpleasant or disheartening, I’ll remember that the context can switch.
