Feel bad to feel good?

[Token]

Hi!

A couple of months ago I've created some kind of "theory" . Actually this theory is based on my experience. I wrote it down but in my native language, and now I'll try to translate it into English. I hope, you'll understand it


I'm sure we find out the value of something when comparing.
So when you ask yourself "How do I feel right now?", the answer will be based on the comparison of this moment of your life with another moment.
So that's why I concluded that if you wish to feel good, you should feel bad first.

When comparing two different states of yourself (I suppose, this comparision is being made unconciously, deep in the brain), you can get positive or negative emotions. But there is one condition: you should remember your feeling(s), when you were in another state (when you felt good or bad). Otherwise, if you already forgot the memories about that different state, your brain will not have a source to compare with.

All this you can feel when you move from one state to another. Here are some simple examples: you've freezed and are getting warm, drinking a cup of tea. You've got angry, and now are calming down. You've worked hard, and now are relaxing in a chair.
So when moving from state to state you, if I can say so, are in 2 states at the same time: you feel them both. You're still feeling negative emotions, but you're feeling how they leave, and at the same time you're feeling as positive emotions are filling you. And they are filling you, because negative emotions are leaving. So you just feel better

PS: Probably, a word "condition" suit better in this context, instead of a word "state"...

[elainevdw]

I'm familiar with this idea; a psychologist told it to me once when I was a teenager. She gave me two metaphors:

Life is a tapestry, and to see the whole picture, you need dark threads and light ones. If it was all light, or all dark, you wouldn't see anything.

Life is a composision, and the most beautiful compositions have both high notes and low notes. If it was all high notes or all low notes, it wouldn't sound beautiful.

I'm not sure how much I agree with this view, though. It's comforting when you're depressed, because it gives reason for the depression. But I think it's possible to be intensely happy without having known intense pain. How much you appreciate that happiness is another discussion!

[Alvin]

The symbol for Taoism is the classic yin/yang, with a bit of one in each. Without long you wouldn't know short, without dark you wouldn't know light.

Life does happen in shades of comparison, but you can also compare how much better you feel compared with how good you already thought you felt!

Another way I like to think about it is a story I read in 'Zen And The Martial Arts'.

A line was drawn in the sand, and the author was asked how he'd make the line shorter, without touching it.

He puzzled over it for a while, and gave up.

A longer line was drawn next to the first one.