Yin and Yang: Is the Bad Worth the Good?

Image via Vogue Japan

The last few days I have been asking myself, is the bad worth the good?

This internal dialogue started after watching the movie, The Giver, this weekend. In the book, and now movie, the bad is erased from society by eliminating contrasts, limiting the range of human emotions, and essentially limiting personal choices. These are big things to drop from our lives (or in this case the lives of the characters), but looking around at our world right now are we really making full use of our personal choices anyway?

Take a few seconds to look around you. What are you doing? How are you feeling? Is the bad in your life worth the good?

I came up with my own answer, but it took me a few days to get here. I sat thinking of the yin and yang theory, asking whether or not the scales of good and bad line up to create perfect balance and harmony?

This is what I decided: The bad doesn’t necessarily balance out the good, and the bad is certainly not worth the good. However, having the ability to see the bad is good.

Seeing the bad is good because it sparks transformation. Seeing the bad opens up the opportunity to define what type of good you would like to bring into your life and into your world. Seeing the bad opens up the opportunity to rework or release what no longer serves you to create more space for your kind of good.

It’s important to note that we all have our own versions of what is good. We all have different dreams, different objectives, and sometimes uncovering who you are and painting that picture of your life is made more difficult due to all the colorful choices that we have – and that is completely okay.  

I don’t think you have to enjoy the bad in your life, I certainly don’t enjoy the bad in mine, but do make peace with the bad. Make peace with the bad because it serves as one of your greatest tools in helping you define where you want to be, what type of relationships you want to have, and most importantly, who you want to be in the world.  So, as bad sits there, screaming at you to press pause and take stock, while the bad shakes you awake and asks you, “Will you still tolerate this? Or do you want something better?” Reply to it.

Life isn’t stale, life is a flux and flow. Every single moment is unique, and it is up to you in your series of moments to see the good and the bad, and choose to do what works best for you in each moment. Will you get it right every time? Maybe. 

The sky is your limit.