The Dichotomy Of Life

I was just thinking about the word "dichotomy" and how it peeks through in everyday life. According to the dictionary the word dichotomy means "a division of two usually contradictory parts or opinions," or "any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts." We wonder today why there are so many separations between people, cultures, families, nations, churches, friendships, etc. and it is this very word that brings to light the cause and effect of it all. DIVISION, is the basis of dichotomy, and in order for dichotomy to reside there must be two opposing elements. The very word "di-vision" means "two visions." Sometimes two different visions work okay together, and sometimes they don't.

I have two dear friends who are in a dichotomy right now. One really loves people and wants to help them and goes about it in a very tranparent and "give-it-all, in-your-face, highly passionate" way, and the other really loves people and wants to help them, but is more private, mysterious, controlled and less tolerant. These two people, supposedly loving in their own way, are in HUGE division with one another, and many people are caught in the middle. I see both sides, and appreciate both personalities, yet . . . I can't help thinking that somewhere, somehow, someone has to give! Pride can be a huge propellant of a dichotomy, and when it exists and manifests it maims relationships at the core. No matter how loving a human being is, if they are unwilling to yield and unwilling to let go of their own insecurities and manipulations they are going to kill the very people they are trying to love. This is the dichotomy of life . . . when we hold on too tight we lose it all, yet if we are willing to let go, sometimes we can gain everything.