Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that dawn follows dark. Life often cycles
Speaker 1: through ups and doubts, and when we are feeling our worst,
Speaker 1: it is helpful to remember that the odds are good
Speaker 1: that we will feel better at some point in the future.
Speaker 1: This episode is first airing around the Winter solstice, which
Speaker 1: is the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. My church
Speaker 1: has a Longest Night service which is designed to help
Speaker 1: people who are mourning commemorate the holidays with the knowledge
Speaker 1: that this can be a hard and lonely time. But
Speaker 1: there is a reason that this commemoration is on the
Speaker 1: longest night, because that is the longest that the night
Speaker 1: will get. After the longest night, the days start lengthening.
Speaker 1: There is more light each day in places towards the
Speaker 1: polar circle, where there is twenty four hour darkness in winter.
Speaker 1: Once the sun rises for the first time in January,
Speaker 1: the days lengthened rapidly, from a few minutes on that
Speaker 1: first day to several hours within the first few weeks.
Speaker 1: It is a noticeable and intense brightening of the world.
Speaker 1: I find this to be a helpful metaphor, because happiness,
Speaker 1: like the light on this planet, tends to ebb and
Speaker 1: flow at different times. When we are in the depths
Speaker 1: of sorrow, it is hard to believe that anything could
Speaker 1: ever be different. But the nature of a low point
Speaker 1: is that it is indeed a low point. The odds
Speaker 1: are good that some happier moments will happen in the future.
Speaker 1: I am reminded of one of Tolstoy's wise phrases from
Speaker 1: war and peace, Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible
Speaker 1: as pure and complete joy. Natasha grieves, but she is young,
Speaker 1: and the world still has its many beautiful things. There
Speaker 1: are kind people, and there is merriment to be had,
Speaker 1: even if there are shadows that temper this enjoyment. So
Speaker 1: it goes with many things in life. Some research has
Speaker 1: found that people tend to go through a marked midlife
Speaker 1: drop in mood, but then experience a rapid increase in
Speaker 1: happiness in their fifties. If you are feeling unreasonably dissatisfied
Speaker 1: with everything in your life in your forties, that is
Speaker 1: a hope worth holding onto. I once read a fascinating
Speaker 1: study that followed couples who were considering divorce not for
Speaker 1: abuse or abandonment reasons, but because their marriages felt miserable.
Speaker 1: Some couples went through with divorce, some didn't. Of those
Speaker 1: who didn't, five years later, many were actually decently happy
Speaker 1: in their marriages. They had simply gone through a really
Speaker 1: low point, and then with time, they had climbed out
Speaker 1: of it. Dawn follows dark. To be sure, one can
Speaker 1: see that this truth means that even if you are
Speaker 1: feeling blissfully happy right now, that probably won't last either.
Speaker 1: Into every life, some darkness falls. You can waste your
Speaker 1: happiness dreading it, but that won't preserve your happiness or
Speaker 1: forestall tragedy. Best to enjoy the good moments, knowing how
Speaker 1: precious they are. But this realization is comforting. When times
Speaker 1: are darker, most likely the days will get lighter. Something
Speaker 1: wonderful will happen in your future. Pure joy may not
Speaker 1: be possible in life, but pure sorrow that lasts forever
Speaker 1: really isn't either. You can just keep going with faith
Speaker 1: that the light you can't see now is there waiting
Speaker 1: on the other side of this longest night, ready to
Speaker 1: warm you in time. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the I heart
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows. Yea