After 13 years online, Cubits.org is scheduled to be shut down. Please make sure you have the contact information for all your friends, and that you download whatever content you want from this site.
It is nice to be reminded to see the good and the beautiful. To focus on it, to choose it over the negative. The thorns should be avoided, but not at the cost of missing out on the beauty and fragrance of the rose.
The sting of a bee does not make the honey less sweet.
I suffered through numerous thorn pricks while clearing years worth of invasive vines from their branches. It was worth every drop of blood I shed to see them finally bloom again!