2 sides of the forest

“You can only go halfway into the darkest forest, then you are coming out the other side.” – Chinese Proverb

I just referenced this quote with a friend and thought i would share it with the rest of you.

In our lives i think each of us has gone through periods where no matter what we do or how hard we try life situations feel as if they keep getting worse instead of better. Suddenly we find ourselves at a point where we feel we can't go any lower and the burden seems to much.

This my friends is us going halfway into the forest and reaching the center point. The center or darkest part of the forest represents the darkest point of our lives. My goal today is to have us focusing not on the darkest part, but on the way out of this forest. Remembering that once we have reached the middle or darkest part of the forest if we proceed correctly we will begin coming out the other side.

The reason i say proceed correctly is that because many people at the point where they reach the darkest deepest part of the forest they give up, they stop - unable to move forward or backward because it feels hopeless. They become lost and exist in self pitty or depression of "my life use to be", "my wealth use to be", "my career use to be", "i can't he/she left me","i can't believe this happened to me".

I am not saying it is easy to trust that even when we think we are at our lowest point we have fully reached the darkest part. But what i do know is if we want to survive and eventually see the other side of the forest and come out the other side we have no choice but to keep moving to find out. I am also not saying as we proceed past the center and out the other side there will not be some moments we find ourselves lost or circled back, closer to the darkest part of the forest again. What i am saying is that if we don't keep moving the darkness will eventually become so comfortable that we will lose ambition, motivation, and inspiration to ever make it out again.
So in summary, while much of the time our lives are spent on the outer rim of the forest we need to remember that if per chance our lives do take us through it...there are two sides...and one is a way out.
Have a great rest of your week. Debra