Taking the good with the bad

I heard it once said that magic comes with a price.  I suppose that's true for everything. Everything comes with a price, the good and the bad.  Sometimes it's difficult to accept that truth.  Recently, after a long and difficult time of heartache in my life, I have found happiness and a measure of joy. But, I have recently discovered that even that joy, happiness, and I guess you would say, magic,  has a price. I worked very hard to build an honorable life in spite of many difficulties.  I had a lovely home, something that was very important to me and that I had often prayed for. Just a simple place of grace and beauty where I could have safety and security, and gather with friends, family, and fill with grandchildren.   I had friends, associates, a good professional reputation, and family nearby. Then one day out of the blue everything changed, like magic.  Not bad magic, good magic. But as I said earlier, this magic came with a price. My home that I have loved so dearly will soon no longer be mine. The resources that made ownership of this home possible have suddenly disappeared. I am now faced with an unknown road. Soon I will be forced to leave behind all that I have known. Friends, family, and associates who have been so close, will now be far away. I suppose when I started this new journey that I was naive to believe that I could live in both worlds, or at the very least keep the things that were so precious from my former life. I was naive in my belief that these things mattered to anyone as much as they did me. And so I suppose it's time for me to look forward to something new and to release from my heart those things that I have, until now, held so dear. Yes, I have found new love, new life, and new hope and these things are wonderful, but unfortunately I have learned everything comes with a price. Obviously, I am willing, although I haven't really been given a choice, to pay the price required. Someone once said that the real courage is not in continuing to fight but in knowing when to surrender. I suppose I have found that new courage that says, it's time to surrender and live to fight another day. I will miss my beautiful home with all my heart. It came to me like a phoenix from the ashes quite literally and has meant a great deal to me.  It was the representation of a victory, a place where I would always be safe.  But now I will move forward and follow my new life and find new joy and new happiness. I know that, good people, family, friends, and associates who have shared in my life up til now, no matter how far away, will still remain and those friendships and associations are the things that matter most. I wish good things didn't have to come at a price, but once again as my daddy always said, if wishes were nickels, I'd be a millionaire. And so I will rise and learn to take the good with the bad and do my best to find  joy and make the best life I possibly can.