“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”- Plato.
In these uncertain times it’s easy to fall prey to fear and worry. In fact during any uncertain time in our lives, it’s easy to fall into the worry trap. However, as with everything we have a choice. It is a choice between avenues of thought. Do we focus on fear or walk in faith? Do we choose to believe that the present moment informs us of what our future will be? Indeed, in trying times the best advice my family(and I indirectly) ever received came from a strong woman who ran a house that sheltered those in need during a storm.(The Danielle House). It was simply… “ Look no further than the tip of your nose.” Because after all looking too far ahead into the future can be perilous. As most know, nothing lasts forever. That includes the bad times as well as the good. Which is why we should try to savor the good times and not dwell in the bad. I’m often met with wonder from others as to how I remain strong. The answer to that is, that I make a choice daily to walk in faith and not dwell in the negatives. Not only is Life a gift, but my life has been double gifted! Therefore, I choose to use my time wisely and encourage others. For a time, I was able to survive each day by mentally holding back the walls that threatened to cave in on me. I did this by ignoring my present reality(a paralyzed left side, living in a different state, and having lost nearly everything) and choosing to look at a brighter future. Instead of a deadened left side, I saw a body that was on the mend. Instead of looking at an empty bank account, I chose to focus on saving my money. Instead of being upset over the losses I tried to see the gains in them. To be honest, this took many years, lots of self improvement books, and finding the right support. I have not only been blessed with a second chance at life, but also the “loss,” of things led to large swathes of time that I could now fill nurturing my well being. Where once I worked sixty hour weeks in a bustling city, I now had stretches of empty time in a quiet little town to fill with reading self improvement books. Or exercising, or volunteering, or simply enjoying a lazy afternoon on a deck swing. Rather then fill my days with seemingly mundane tasks in exchange for sums of money, I was investing in myself and filling up on the things that would last a life time. With each finished book, added dollar to my account, debt paid off, and strength from physical exercise I was elated. I had discovered something profound AND helpful! Even when we are faced with daunting adversity we can prevail.
