Dichotomy

Unreal.  Yesterday when I was writing I thought of using the word dichotomy.  I thought I wonder what that means.  I had an idea but I used something else.  Less than two hours later Merril asked, “what does dichotomy mean?” I laughed at the seeming co-incidence of it all.  Her idea turned out to be right, but it made me think I needed to look this up and follow it through.
Different dictionaries basically said the same thing.  “a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different:” “a division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities” (Merriam-Webster)
To me it is something that appears the same as but is actually the complete opposite.  Like what I have been talking about with thankfulness.  I can respond to negative circumstance with grumbling or thankfulness.  Both can be a response to a negative circumstance.  Both appear to be a reasonable response but are the opposite of each other.
Neither response denies the reality of the negative circumstance, but each has a completely different outcome.  Just about every dictionary contained one word that defines grumbling. “Complain.”   Complaining may help me get something off my chest, but I can think of no circumstance where complaining has improved something for either myself or others.
The best explanation of such things I have heard is it is like an eclipse.  In an eclipse one planet is completely hidden.  No one denies the existence of the hidden planet but it is not the focus. The planet in front is.
That is the way I see negative circumstances.  Like a hidden planet.   I do not deny it is there but it is not my focus.  My focus is thankfulness which is the planet in front.
It occurs to me now that many eclipse happen with planets traveling in opposite directions.  I see complaining and thankfulness as traveling in opposite directions.  For me the destination of complaining is without fail the pits.  A sense of depression and hopelessness.  On the other hand thankfulness always leads to liberty and hope.  A sense of solution as yet undiscovered.
Man the worlds one word can open up.