Opposition.

"For it must needs be that there be opposition in all things."

-2nd Nephi 2:11

Today, I walked out to my car in -5 degree weather to go to work. My poor old car seemed to express my exasperations about the cold weather with its loud grumbles and stiff frozen windows. As I drove with my knees to avoid touching the steering wheel with my hands (you'd be surprised by how well I can do this), my mind wandered to the days last summer when I would lay out next to the pool in the sun for hours with my roommates. I longed for those days, and I longed for the sun to warm my cold bones.

With this simple wandering of my mind, I began to ponder about how there really is opposition in all things. Because there were 100+ degree days last summer, there are now -0 degree weather days this winter. For every moment of darkness we experience, there is an equal moment of light coming. 

From here, my mind wandered to one of the very few lessons from my Freshman Book of Mormon class that I actually remember. I remember learning that life has equal amounts of highs and lows. My teacher drew a drawing similar to this on the board:  

For every high we have in life, whether great or small, we will (or already have had) an equally opposite low. As much as it hurts to have those hard moments, they are necessary because they are the only way we can truly enjoy the good moments. 

For this reason, I'm grateful for lonely moments, painfully long nights of studying, times when I struggle financially, sickness, confusion, despair, and sadness. Im grateful for opposition, because it is what gives me the assurance that there are equally positive experiences just down the road.