How do you choose to embrace the things that happen to you? I’m not saying that every difficult thing needs to bet with a high five and a smile, but how we react can make a whole hell of a difference… One of my friends died when he was just 27, I was 23 at the time, it was 10 years ago, and I’m older than he ever got to be. I remember at his funeral his parents overcome with joy. And I was angry. I was so, so very angry. They were joyful. And he was dead. But they were joyful for the time they got with him, to be there when he took his first steps, to see him overcome battles not many knew. He was a broken child, and things were no doubt far from perfect. And I look back and see what it means to do your best to see through every ounce of pain, and search in a world of seemingly unending sorrow - for good. For the things worth praising. For the joy often forgotten even in the shipwrecks of our lives. “No man should ever have to bury their child” they said, “but what a blessing we get to” as a parent now I cannot fathom the level of inner strength it takes to be there for the person you love most in this world, when they are no longer there to react to it. Love is selfless and life can be a test on our humanity, but the spirit endures. Suffering is not meant to last forever, neither is goodness, but we can choose how we react to both in any given moment, we choose to be many things. All of us are dying, that’s indisputable. How are YOU living? Love to y’all, make the most of today. I’m thankful we both have it. #1924us #life #art #animation #mrskelly #beautiful #inspiration #hope #overcome #motivation #grief #sad #happy