When In Need Of A Few Words Of Support...

The Giving Book Club.  The only books chosen are books that give to the reader.  Exactly what kind of positive thought, healing words, or humor the book gives, depends upon the reader. 

I think our whole family needed just a few words to remind us, that life happens and it will be OK.  We have some important decisions to make today.  We will work with the information we have and rely on doing our absolute best.  For a little extra strength, I pulled out a book off my Giving Book Shelf and sifted through the pages until I felt more calm.  Motivated.  Able to face what's to come.  This book is laid out by days of the year.  Each page is short but eloquently points out a different way to look at life.  Along with the date, this book has subjects listed at the top of each page, so if you need specific inspiration, simply flipping through the book until you arrive at your support-du-jour is easy.  This book is called, The Daily Book of Positive Quotations by Linda Picone.

Getting Through

"The best way out is always through." ~ Robert Frost

There's no easy way to get out of a difficult period, as much as we may want to find one.  We just have to go through it.  Rationally, we may know that our pain will lessen over time, but that is little solace at first.

Still, we survive.  And we survive by living through our pain - day by day, week by week, month by month.  And then, suddenly one day, we're on the other side, looking back, thinking, "That was a rough period, wasn't it? But I made it."

Resilience 

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up." ~ Vince Lombardi

Watch a baby learning to walk.  When she first goes from crawling to walking, she's down more than she's up.  There may be a few tears, but she quickly bounces back up, ready to try again.  The urge to walk, to explore the world in a new way, keeps her going.  Wouldn't it be great if we could maintain this same kind of spirit?  A baby doesn't think, "Gee, I fell.  Now I'll never learn to walk."  As adults, we sometimes let our failures discourage us.  If something goes wrong one time, we think it will always go wrong.  We don't get up to take the next step.

Strength In Adversity

"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the windowpanes, which vanish with the warmth." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

We see it after every major disaster: People opening their hearts, their homes, and their wallets to help others.  On a smaller, more personal scale, friends help each other in times of adversity - and even strangers rise to acts of heroism when the situation demands it.  We all have within us the desire and ability to help others.  It's too bad that we forget this until adversity strikes.  

After writing this post, I've been reminded that our family somehow manages to laugh at just about everything.  If we can survive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, being robbed, floods, losing everything we own in a natural disasters... twice, losing family members and friends... then we will survive life at large today. 

I hope everyone has a great day!

Other books in the Giving Book Club:

Giving Is Supposed To Come From Here

It's Not Easy Being Green

Life's Little Instruction Book