For us to feel sadness, there must be something that touches us in a positive way

Something good, or the potential for good those are the essentials for the emotion of sadness

For were it not for the favorable and beautiful in life or for the potential for something grand and wonderful, we would feel no sorrow

Sadness is the counterweight to joy and insight It is the balance for that which inspires and lifts us up

The beauty of the rose which fades in the wilting The fragrance of its life's breath which lifts the senses Are missed more as the rose's petals wilt and the perfume ghosts away

It is the same when we are missing that something, someone, or someplace special Or that missed opportunity, a wasted moment, or the chance for a blessing to be accepted

That is sadness... For us to feel sadness there is that which is good in thought, desire, intention, providence, opportunity, and experience that must go before

So, in retrospect, there is light and beauty in sadness We grieve for what was, or could have been And, knowing that, sadness is a reverberation of something grand; an echo of that which is sterling and precious

A different way to look at it... A brighter hindsight!

2006 Kathy Pippig Harris