I don’t know how many of you read The Giver by Lois Lowry when you were in school. Recently, a collegue of mine decided to use it for his Science Fiction class, even though the reading level is far below high school level. Because I have the same students, I decided to read it so I could help them out if they ran into trouble doing the homework assignments.

I consider myself a pretty shallow person for the most part. I like happy endings, I don’t like to cry, I really don’t like to feel pain, and if I could avoid extremes of temperature, well that would be just dandy. Or at least I used to think so.

After reading this book where the society has been utterly conformed so no one feels or remembers anything other than what’s on the surface, everyone looks the same, every choice is regimented, and all color and emotion is washed out, I’m thinking a little pain and suffering isn’t such a bad thing.

Sure, I wish I could say my heart was never broken, or my nose either for that matter, but both experiences made me the person I am today. I’ve made some TERRIBLE choices in my life and have done some really stupid things, but that taught me not to do them again. At least I hope they did.

Pain is a part of life. So is joy and sadness. If everything is just even, is that really living? How can you appreciate the ups if there are no downs? How can you appreciate the sun if there is no rain? Or vice versa?

If you haven’t read this book, it’s worth picking up at your local library. I read the whole thing in 2 hours and that included mulitiple interruptions. Sometimes it’s good to remember there’s a reason for the struggles we have to face.

For in facing them, we grow stronger.