Posted: July 7, 2012

Hello! 

I was crying last night (don't ask me why, and no one would really care anyway except for a few).  After I calmed down, one of my favorite quotes popped into my head.  It was from a drama, but I thought it had a lot of meaning to it.

"苦中一点甜"

Sweetness in the midst of hardship. 

"苦" is defined as "bitter".
When put together with "辛", it becomes "辛苦", meaning toilsome. 
When put together with "痛", it becomes "痛苦", meaning pain.
When put together with "衷", it becomes "苦衷", meaning difficulty.

This Chinese word always gives off the same theme: challenge. Life will always be a challenge, and it's up to us to either put up with its trials or run away from them.

What I like about this quote is that it says when you're stuck, there will be something that gives you hope. In the drama, there were two of many main characters who said this quote: a prince and a maid. 

~*~

The drama took place back in the days of the Tang Dynasty. At the age of six, the prince, along with his mother, was under the empress's threat of death, but because of an accident, the prince developed mental illness; this illness also spared him from death. He was sheltered, and it caused him to become unhappy. 

When she was young, the maid was taught to do good deeds.  She was around the age of six, like the prince.  While the prince was unhappy, the maid gave him sweet lotus candy (糖莲子), saying "苦中一点甜". She wanted to tell him that in unhappy times, there will always be a hint of sweetness. The candy would be the prince's sweetness for the meantime, since life is full of hope.

~*~

What this maid said is true. Life doesn't end at trials or sadness. It has hope and happiness. 
Even the Bible gives us comfort.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5 NIV)
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)

I sought to pray last night. God does miracles; He really lifts off the anxiety on me. :)

I'm feeling better, but since I cried last night, I have some swollen eyes today. o__o It'll go away... soon.

Thanks for reading! (Though it may have been a bit awkward boring)

~*~

PS: Thank you, friend, for listening to me last night. I owe you. :) I guess I'll give you.... candy! Haha.
(There is no sarcasm in the italics.)

Psalm 23:4
"...I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."