February 20, 2024
“We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, ‘Why me?’ unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.” Lakshmana
On this seventh day of Lent, I’m not quite sure how this quotation came my way. As best I can discover, Lakshmana is a character in the Hindu epic Ramayana, which I’ve never read. Yet here it is, on one of my notecards, because it spoke to me.
No matter its author or source, this quotation makes me stop and look at my responses to life and so I am thankful for it. So often when difficult times appear, as they will, we can become like children on a playground who shout, “That’s not fair.” We think it’s not fair that we don’t get the recognition, are diagnosed with a disease, lose a loved one, go through a divorce, endure a heartache while the world blithely goes on around us. We ask that existential question, “Why me?”
But why not me? What is so special about me that I should be exempt from sorrow? Or you? As Scott Peck writes at the beginning of his book, The Road Less Traveled, “Life is difficult.” Jesus of Nazareth says quite clearly that “In the world, you will have tribulation.” No one is promised a rose garden and yet we act so offended when we don’t receive one.
But isn’t it revealing, as this quotation suggests, that we feel rather entitled to the joys of life? If we don’t think we deserve sorrow, then why do we think we deserve joy? We expect to receive the return of spring, beautiful sunsets, answered prayers, dreams fulfilled, true love—anything that makes us laugh and feel loved. Joy is our due. But what right do we have to it, at all? Why does joy come to me, to you?
As I mull over this quotation, I find I want to be more aware of humility and gratitude in my life. Yes, I’ve had, and will have, sorrow, but I have done nothing to earn all the multitude of joys that have also come my way. Why me? I don’t know. All I can say is “Thank you.”
Blessings ~ Rosemary
Photo credit: Pixabay
Spirit Reflections 
Grounded in Grace ❣️🙏
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Yes, exactly.
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I read an article in Sports Illustrated years ago, about a young man with a disabling injury. He said that instead of thinking, why me, he instead thought, why not me? Your post solidified that for me – especially thinking about all the joys. Thank you!
And thanks be to God for all things.
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Thanks for reading it and thanks to the Mystery that brings these quotations into our lives.
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What a wonderful Lenten practice: intentional pauses throughout the day to express the gift of Gratitude. I give thanks for the Spirit who moves in you, Rosemary to pen such thoughtful and humbling reflections.
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A comment about Joy….it is like rewiring your brain. If we are wired to notice the negative in a situation, or an event or surroundings more easily, quicker than the positive. We can train ourselves to be more attune to the positive. It can override the quickening of the negative.
I have been achieving good results in my efforts in my watercolor class. I have been putting in the time and effort at home practicing. I know when I am in the zone when lots of time passses and it feels like just a few minutes. It gets calming and relaxing. At the same time my dreams have become abundantly creative. Fantastically creative. I am creating in my dream world better and faster than in my real world. I know it’s not real but it’s so amazing. This has happened to me often throughout my life. There must be so much more to life than what we experience daily. What would happen if we did not limit ourselves?
You probably experience the same in your writing. One part feeds another.
Your reading is so varied.
Thanks for your efforts, and sharing them …sending them off into the electrical universe. Debora
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Thanks, Debora, for the reminder to practice focusing on the positive. We all need that, particularly these days. And yes, when I write/create, I do lose sense of time. My dreams have always been overabundant in weirdness! I wouldn’t even know where to begin to listen to them!
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