As we get older, we accumulate the experiences of failure, disappointments, hurts and betrayals. On some days it may feel like it’s hard to breathe, on other days we feel empty like a deflated balloon, hollow, spirit crushed, done. But there’s always a rainbow just beyond the horizon, an oasis over the next sand dune. There’s always hope, there’s always life, there’s always a choice.
Pain is one of those things that saps our spirit dry, especially when it makes no sense. The context in pain our pain exists determines our ability to heal and cope. Pain that just pops out of the blue one day is harder to manage than pain that is the result of a surgery that was performed to cure you of cancer. Pain that arises after a surgery to cure you of cancer will be more surmountable than pain that arises from an operation that is done just to buy you a few more months of life. Context matters.
But there are little things in our everyday that lend us the power to cope. Like gifts from above, these things give us the divine resilience to make it through each day, if only we embrace it. It may be the smile on a strangers face, the sound of laughter from a petulant grandchild, or the caress of a butterfly that somehow decided to rest on your nose. It may simply be winning a soft toy at a fun fair. Allow yourself to live in and enjoy that moment.
There will always be pain, but there will always be a way to cope. There’s always a choice. At times it means reaching out to loved ones to ask for support. At other times, that choice includes seeing a doctor who can help alleviate the pain. But the most important decision is the decision to allow yourself to be happy, to believe that you are good enough, worthy, loved, accepted. That it’s ok, really ok to be happy for no reason at all.