Would you live in a world without pain if there was also no joy?

When reviewing Erik Erikson's stages of personality development, I, of course started thinking about critical stages of my own personality development throughout my childhood and adolescence, and even now, in "adulthood." You may have noticed that I used the quotation marks because even though I'm certainly now far past the point of being classified as a child, adolescent, or even a young adult, I still feel as if I'm still trying to assert my autonomy in some ways with my family (and even community?) of origin. According to Corey and Corey, "achieving personal autonomy is a continuing process of growth of growth and learning," as "autonomous people [are able to function] without constant approval and reassurance, are sensitive to the needs of others, can effectively meet the demands of daily living, are willing to ask for help when it is needed, and can provide support to others" (2010, p. 40). According to this definition, I think I'm pretty autonomous in a lot of ways, except perhaps for the "seeking approval" part. I like to make people (especially those close to me) happy and sometimes I think I try to overcompensate for the moods of others. I'm not sure how to stop doing this, but I think being aware of this particular tendency of mine helps. Another portion of the chapter that spoke to me was the description of early childhood and the results of the denial of certain feelings like anger. I had a very happy childhood and was constantly enmeshed in a large community of extended family, relatives, friends, and other school and church connections. As a result, I did often have a lot to look forward to and often felt pretty happy, confident, and secure throughout my childhood and adolescence. Because of this, I think I presented myself to the world in this way most of the time and felt as if I had to maintain this "personality," even with those close to me. Ironically, this repression of what I view as negative feelings is what I'm currently trying to change in my individual solution-focused journey for my Theory I and II classes. By allowing my emotions to run their course naturally, I think they became less of a problem down the road. I also need to be okay with feeling angry or sad some of the time because this is a natural condition of the human experience. I saw this quote on a classroom wall and think it applies here: "Would you live in a world without pain if there was also no joy?" Once you experience strong feelings of sadness or pain, I think it makes the times when you experience joy even brighter, happier, and more significant. Corey, G., and Schneider Corey, Marianne. I Never Knew I Had a Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth (2010). Canada: Cengage Learning Inc.