To light a light is to cast a shadow. One cannot exist without the other.
To me, there are so many metaphors to go along with this quote. Day cannot exist without night, you cannot know success without failure, etc. etc. But, this quote especially, means to me, exactly what those metaphors do. You cannot have one thing, without having to sacrifice something else. Yes, this quote is symbolic, because they're not literally talking about a light source, nor a real shadow. They're saying there might be a good and a bad. You cannot have everything you have wanted, sometimes your going to have to give something up, in order to move on and succeed.
For me, there a couple of shadow that I've casted on to myself, unintentionally. Being Prime Minister, being involved in the school a lot was and still is an amazing opportunity, and yes for sure I'm grateful for it, but what did I give up? Hanging out with my friends. Sometime's I regret doing all these things, because I'm so busy with things and time that I could've spent having fun, and feel as though I might be drifting apart from people. Sometimes I only remember work, and not my friends. The ratio for business to pleasure is sometimes not even. When all of my friends are hanging out, or decide to not go to things, they have a choice, because they don't have as much of a responsibility on their shoulders as I do, and they're always hanging out together, which is cool, and I don't blame or be bitter because of them, its not their fault. But for me, I'm obligated to go to every meeting for anything I've signed myself up for, because that's the path I chose for myself. Sure it sucks sometimes, but I have to remind myself my end game, and what the end goal is for me, and when its over, it'll all be worth it. So in this situation the light is the leadership, but the shadow is less free time.
Another shadow, would be related to high school. I have been accepted into the IB Program, which means I wont be attending the same high school as my group most of the people I know are attending, while as I only know a handful of people at my high school. I know I chose this path for myself, and its whats best for me, but maybe I would enjoy high school more if i was surrounded by friends? Or maybe a fresh start is what I need? I honestly don't know as of yet, but only time will tell. I'm going to a program which will help me in university, and help me get into a good university, a program that will help me excel at what I do, but at what cost? Leaving friends, for something that could help change my life in the long run. Its sad that I had to pick this over friends and having fun with people I know in high school, but like i said before, its a must, and its honest whats best for me. I could always make new friends, and still have fun, while attending this school, but if i were to choose friends over something like this, I don't know what could've happened. The light is a good education, but the shadow that looms is having to start over. I try to look at the positive side of things, even when it might be tough.
It happens in day to day life really though. If you decide to stay home then go the gym like your usual routine, then your giving up valuable exercise time, to help whatever goal you had in mind. Or when you decide to splurge and buy something new, your letting a lot of money go, for the sake of something materialistic, even though you might want, need it, or both. Like we had discussed in class, if your a good speaker or speech writer, you tend to not like to listen. I do consider myself doing great in the literacy field, but not so much the listening. No, not hearing people out, that I'm good at, the whole giving advice and hearing people out when they wanna vent, I can do, but I can be stubborn sometimes. I tend to stick to what I say, and stand my ground, which can sometimes be translated into stubbornness. The whole have full or half empty thing seems to happens in books too. Now, a good example of this in text, is The Hunger Games. In THG, the protagonist of the story Katniss Everdeen, must compete in an annual fight to the death, hosted by her corrupted government, The Capitol. Now all the towns (known as districts in the book), are very poor, of course minus the districts that are very close to The Capitol. Katniss does win, but along the way falling in love with a fellow competitor. Though in the second book, she realizes just how wrong things might be within The Capitol, and with her attitude in the games, it sparks a revolt against the government, a rebellion. Now, the light is the fact that she is standing up against the injustice, but at a very high cost. The Capitol is very harsh and cruel with anyone who seems "ungrateful" to their treatment of their citizens. Many lives were lost, especially people close to her (no, if you haven't read it, I'm not spoiling it for you). But throughout the book, President Snow does everything he can to make her life a living hell.
Like I had said before, there are many examples which show that the bad and the good always balance each other out. For me, there is some regret for thing's I have done (bad or good), but I cannot imagine life any other way. For the things I have decided on, and done shaped who I am. High school itself is a whole other story for me, and I cant wait to begin that new chapter in my life. It does sadden me a little, when I look at my friends and think "I'm barely going to see you again", or when I miss out on a fun time due to a meeting. But when I think of the good that had caused me to miss out on all of this, it reminds me that I'm going to have to make sacrifices anyway in life, and I cant have both. Not to say that I pick work over play, but I do have an idea of who and what I want to be, and sometimes I can't help but have tunnel vision.
