This Too Shall Pass: Relief Over Grief

A quick history first from Wikipedia: This too shall pass (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎, gam zeh ya'avor) is a saying commonly used to offer condolences or sympathy to someone in pain or suffering. The origins of this phrase have been attributed to many sources, including King Solomon, American president Abraham Lincoln, and the poet Lanta Wilson Smith.

i first encountered the phrase from a King Solomon parable that was used as an intro for a novel. However, i can not quite remember the book title... Anyway, here's the parable, again courtesy of the ever-reliable wiki-site. And oh, i've highlighted some of the parable's best lines and most worthy quotes. Read on...

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it."

"If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?"

"It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy."

Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet.

"Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah.

He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity.

"Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled.

To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!"

As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: _gimel, zayin, yud_, which began the words "_Gam zeh ya'avor_" -- "This too shall pass."

At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

i think it is a very simple yet very effective story which describes the very essence of life...King Solomon was just at the wrong end of the ring, if you know what i mean... Which brings me to last night's game vs. Red Horse. Suffice to say, it was a great night for my team, White Castle as we had defeated rather soundly the league's previously unbeaten team! The final score was an unexpected 22-point blowout! While they dropped to a 3-1 W-L card, we improved to an even 2-2. More importantly, we still have a chance for either the automatic semifinals spot or at least a quarterfinals date with a twice to beat advantage. And most importantly, it was a victory which upped the morale of the team--- something quite honestly we needed very much after the back to back losses last week.

And oh for the stat-freaks, i had (again, estimated) 2 points (on 1 of 5 shooting) courtesy of a twisting lay-up (tsamba, in other words) about 8 assists (which could have been 12 or 13 if not for easy non-conversions) and a couple of steals. The W tastes so much sweeter when you play as a team and last night's win was the sweetest this year.

So how does the "This too shall pass" phrase fall into the equation? Well, after a couple of losses i kind of lost track of that mantra; had completely forgotten it (Maybe not subconsciously) and played rather very tight and too worried. If i only told myself after the first loss that, "this too shall pass" maybe things could have been different--- maybe not the losing part but on how i would take the losing...

That brings me to my main problem. When i am depressed, i am too depressed. When i am happy, i am too happy. No middle ground, just extreme emotions that either kill me or save me. And for now, i am too happy about the recent victory, and you can't take that away from me. And definitely, i am not changing my extreme ways--- i will still be too happy or too sad.

i don't know. It is just better this way. Sure when the time comes when i am depressed again, i will be too down. But hey, this too shall pass, right?