Think like a Viking: Part thirty three

in #vikings2 years ago

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Sorrow is lightened by being brought out openly.


Each Thursday I select a Viking quote, sometimes randomly but ofttimes based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. original im src


This week's Viking quote

Sorrow is lightened by being brought out openly - The Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf

Don't hide from your negative emotions lest the darkness take hold; confront them, share them and bring them into the light that the burden of carrying them can be, itself, lightened along with the negative emotions. This is basically what this Viking quote says to me, although, like always, what seems like a simple collection of words can have many meanings.

I was thinking about someone close to me who has been through a series of events that no human should be put through. It makes me sad, and simultaneously angry, to think that this bright and vibrant person carries such dark and sinister emotional turmoil on a daily basis - that they have to - and that it's due to the selfish and disgusting actions of others.

Looking at the person you'd not know it. They present like any other on the surface; just another person making their way through life. But then there's that darkness, the ever-present shadow that claws at them from the inside trying to drag them ever-downward and threatening to tear them apart.

It's a constant struggle for this person to find light.

I know, and have known, many like this; I say known for those who are no longer here. The reasons a person feels like this are as varied as people themselves. Some are stronger than others, some will never be strong and some don't understand just how strong they actually are. Those last say things like, I have no choice but to go on, and what choice to I have but to keep pushing forward. Yes, indeed. There's choice of course, but its very final.

Most of those I mention, including the specific person I write about, suffer in silence. They blame and even resent themselves and have difficulty in accepting that they are just flawed, fallible and a little broken - like us all. They make it their fault, feel unworthy, incapable and undeserving of anything but the misery someone else forced upon them and yet...they are: Worthy, capable and deserving.

I'm a seeker and that search occurs mostly within myself.

I peer into dark corners, the recesses where lurking shadows lie in wait, and I look for answers, resolution, restitution of what I have lost and yes, a little light also. Of course the search for answers often brings more questions, complications and shadows but it's the way I move things forward, or at the very least, keep things moving. The point being, is that I look to draw things out of the shadow and into the light.

I think that's what this quote could refer to in some way - the inner search for understanding, acceptance and contentment.

Yes, it could also mean that sharing a burden makes it lighter however I'm choosing to see it as opening oneself to oneself. I don't mean to indicate it is the only way to deal with negative emotions. But by gaining a better understanding of oneself, bringing feelings and emotions into the open for oneself to see more clearly a person is better placed to move them forward to resolution, acceptance and ultimately a happier life.

I recently made a comment to someone who knows darkness; "...the moment showed you that despite the lurking shadow there is always light. There can be no shadow without light".

Shadow and light, positive and negative, sorrow and joy...I don't think one could be without the other. Negatives in our lives make the positives all the more sweeter and through finding light in the darkness one can turn sorrow to joy. It's a perspective thing.

We can't look at darkness as the enemy...Think of the night sky; It's the darkness that makes the stars so beautiful. When we feel dark, when the shadow descends, we need to look for the light, the sparkling stars that lie within, and let ourselves shine.


That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote urging us to bring our negative emotions and troubles into the light so we may better know how to move them forward to a satisfactory resolution in the pursuit of a better life.

Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own, tell me a story around this quote or topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.


Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind

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I took a slightly different interpretation to this quote than you, and took it to be more along the lines of acknowledging your negative/dark emotions so they don't fester and grow within you until they ultimately rule your life.

Shit happens. It's a constant. But to resign yourself to shit happening is to give up.

My children are aboot the focus of my life - you've seen that I almost always bring them up in discussion, primarily because I learn as much from them about life as vice versa. Two of my boys suffer depression, one has been cutting himself. I have told them - and keep reminding them - that they need to acknowledge their illness, but do not let it define them.

The Vikings were incredibly wise people. I believe they needed to be in order to survive.

Exactly! This is the thing with these Viking quotes, they talk to people differently as required.

I chose my, slightly different, perspective because it suited the particular real-world scenario just as you did for your lads and your own situation. That's sort of cool right.

Acknowledgement is the first step towards ownership. You've mentioned your lads before. I hope they push forward and I'm sure you have the right and required assistance for them on hand.

Thanks! They're certainly moving in the right direction. It's a little more difficult for them, perhaps, but forward momentum, no matter how small or slow, is momentum in the right direction. Thanks for the comment!

It's not murder if you provide an explanation why you killed somebody within three adult males that have crossed your path.

Actually we should really do that.

It's a life, sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow, positive and negative all are moving back to back with it. Very beautifully narrated by u, take care.

It's a life, sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow, positive and negative

Yes, so I thought.

For me, there is such sweet, sweet surrender and peace in the acceptance of the flaws, cracks, and failures within my essence. Far too often people judge themselves based upon what they perceive other people to possess, including emotional wellbeing. Traditional social media is not helping this matter at all.

My daughter suffered this misinterpreting the false projection of peoples lives and went through a period of dissatisfaction and a desire for "happiness" before understanding, as you say, we are ALL flawed in some fashion or another and some people need to camouflage this as a coping mechanism when confronting and embracing characteristics for what they are (normal) is the best way to overcome them in my experience.

I personally didn't see a calming in my heart and soul until I began to look openly and honestly about what is the best and worst about myself. There is no way to mitigate negatives without truly, unflinchingly scrutinizing them and how they impact you.

We're all just primates trying to find our way, let's be honest about it....lolol

It's funny that people take their reputation based on other people's perceptions and let it define them. When, in fact, it does not. It's thei character that defines them as theta the thing they have the ability to control themselves.

Looking inwardly and seeing the good that resides there will always see the bad or negative also. It's through bringing both into the light that one can find a better life, more comfort, self acceptance and courage.

This quote is so powerful. Sorrow lies in every soul, we all have our silent cross to bear. Your friend must have a tough mindset, to have to cope with a horrible situation and yet to put on a smile at the end of the day.

Light and darkness is the way life works. We can't have only one of them. I think that with time and wisdom we learn to treasure the sorrow and take the lessons out of it, like a precious nectar.

She is a strong person, probably far stronger than she even knows, but she doesn't smile every day. I don't blame her. She tries to find some light though, and I think she does a pretty good job at doing so. Sometimes the shadows close in but she keeps a flame burning and works to increase its small light little by little.

By what I read she must be a strong woman, I admire that! A person who can find the power to smile through severe adversity has amazing resilience.
Have a great weekend, it is coming!