Life is like a rubber band - constantly expanding and contracting. Expansion times
are the good times – our mountain top experiences. We make new friends, expand our
knowledge, enter into new relationships, perhaps bring new life into the world, and
get a bigger and better job, etc. Those are the halcyon days when everything seems
perfect, there is money in the bank and our relationships are blossoming; we know
we are loved by family and friends. Where there is expansion, however, there must
also be a time of contraction. These times can be valley experiences when simply
nothing seems to go right; when everything bad that can happen seems to come our
way, whether it is a number of small disappointments, a lost relationship, even death
in the family.
Our periods of expansion are easy and often exciting times that we hope will never
end. In our heart of hearts, however, we know they cannot last forever and that a
contraction, or valley experience, may be just around the corner.