Good morning on this very uneventful day in February! It doesn't get much notice except for the last minute Valentine's shopping! I would bet it is the highest day for card sales...which next year I plan to have a line ready.
Anyways, I was thinking the other day that you all may wonder why I say to "choose joy" so often. Or why I mention pain and struggle in life. It is because I am no stranger to it.
A small portion of my story involves an accident 5 years ago that forever changed my life. I learned that choosing joy was not an option, but something I had to do to keep moving forward.
How could beauty come from this, right?
Things to this day are not normal. I live with chronic pain that can be debilitating. Some days it is hard to paint. My neck and arms fatigue easily. I still cry and vent and get discouraged. I am no superhuman. I never will be. But I have come to believe that your attitude isn't half the battle...it's all of the battle.
That's what I believe this is about. Making me speak. Open up. Be vulnerable. Welcome someone into my story so I can step in theirs. We all face major trials in life. Some worse than another. Some with scars and wounds so deep, we believe they will never heal. But what joy is it that we can encourage, that I can encourage, just one more person. To look outside of myself and my pain for just a moment. What is that beauty?
You aren't alone. I am not alone.