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Have you ever found joy in the mist of pain?

57 Nothing is more beautiful and powerful than a smile that has struggled through the tears. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are in the US celebrate this holiday. I really hope you enjoy this time and that you find time to have a moment to reflect on what you are grateful for. What I am grateful for is still having my parents active in my life.

 

Over this past month I discovered both sadness and admiration. My father’s father passed away this month and of course it was a sad day. But what I discovered, is that it does not matter how old I am, I still watch what my father does. How he handles situations. The day of the funeral, I felt like the 4 year old little girl watching her father’s every move.At the funeral, my father, the proud military man, went from trying to be the strong son by not shedding a tear, to breaking down and weeping. Twenty seconds later, having a thought come across his mind, gathering the cool, young family around in a huddle, cracking a smile along with another thought that caused him to chuckle before he could speak, and then proceeding to tell a joke that my grandfather would have probably told us himself, if he could have been at his own funeral to tell one last good joke to make us laugh.

 

I admired my father even more at that moment. He went from pain to joy in less than 20 seconds.  He taught me that you can be strong in the mist of tears and that you can always find joy in the mist of pain. It’s just how we choose to look at it. It is a lesson and a memory I will never forget.

 

The next time you go though pain, find the joy. It’s all in the way we choose to see adversity.

 

Any fool can be happy when times are good. It takes a strong soul with real heart to develop smiles out of situations that make us weep.  

With Appreciation,

Chrystee Pharris