Contrast as a noun is defined as: the state of being strikingly different from something else. In art it’s defined as: a principle of art that refers to the arrangement of opposite elements (light vs. dark colors, rough vs. smooth textures, large vs. small shapes, etc.) in a piece so as to create visual interest, excitement and drama. So basically, contrast helps make the difference between multiple things clearer, it limits confusion. There is no blending, no gray area, it’s more black and white.
As we live our lives things often bother us, we feel upset by the things that are happening around us and in our lives. Understanding that our emotions are our guidance system, we can see that these emotions we’re feeling are signposts, they are there to give us a message to make an adjustment. They are helping us to see what we couldn’t see before.
If you’re beginning a relationship and after a while the way you’re being treated starts hurting your feelings, that is the contrast beginning. You experience an emotion you don’t enjoy so that you can see a change that needs to be made. Perhaps you need to set a boundary, improve communication, or possibly even end the relationship. Whatever adjustment needs to be made the contrast is showing up to help you see it. If you don’t make the adjustment, the Universe turns up the contrast to help you see it more clearly…you feel more uncomfortability. If your eyes are open, you’ll see it and make the adjustment.
Often, we don’t pay attention to the uncomfortability (contrast) or stuff it down inside rationalizing it away because we just want to be happy without having to make any adjustments. This is unrealistic, we always have to make adjustments, this is how we interact with life and how we design the life we want. It’s important to stop shying away from the contrast and to see it for what it is…an opportunity to see the adjustment that needs to be made so we can make it with minimal uncomfortability.
The Universe wants you to be happy, it wants you to live your best life and it doesn’t understand “settling”. The way things work is as long as you’re heading away from the life that brings you joy, the more uncomfortability you feel, the more contrast is shown you so hopefully you get the hint and make the adjustments necessary. The quicker you make the adjustments; the less contrast is shown you because you were able to see what you were supposed to see – the path to your best life.
This is why using the word contrast can be so helpful. If we stop getting hung up on the uncomfortability we feel and thinking we’re not supposed to be feeling it, we can start looking for the lesson it’s trying to show us. It’s not a punishment or life being unfair, it’s a gift, a compass to guide us towards our best life! Embracing the contrast will not only help guide you but will also minimize the need for it to continually show up. It’s there to help us see clearer what to do and where to go. So pay attention and be thankful when you see it!