Maybe Shauna Niequist has it right here.

You need both the bitter and the sweet in your life.

Without the sweet – you just have obstacles and suffering and pain.

And without the bitter – you just have luxury without meaning and growth and purpose.

Unfortunately, the bitter parts of life make us learn and grow.

“Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy.”

–Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet