I want you to know it really is OK to Smile Again.
There is so much joy in the world to be had and seen and experienced..God has given us a great big world full of amazing scenery, experiences, and once in a lifetime moments. These are beautiful and meant to be not only enjoyed, but treasured to the fullest regardless of what others are going through, and maybe even because of what they are going through.
Let’s unpack this a bit, shall we?
There are so many people hurting and I mean truly devastating pain that they feel they can’t share. They feel they will be judged by others because others think that they SHOULD be happy and grateful for what they have. This can look like Depression.
There are people who are stuck in their personal darkness because its what they’ve been trained to do by their parents or peers at school (never talk about what goes on here between us outside of our doors or never tell anyone what I’ve done or said). This can look like Abuse or Narcissism.
There are also people hurting that are sharing it with the world and just so wish on you to GO FULLY LIVE YOUR LIFE without boundaries because they truly would if they could themselves. This can look like someone stuck in a Hospital Bed or with a debilitating illness.
There are so many other types of pain as well…pain that truly can take over and consume us from the outside in and keep us locked away. One of the most trying times for someone who has experienced any debilitating pain (whether it be emotional, psychological, spiritual, or physical) can be learning to not only smile at times again but to truly mean it by relishing in that one special moment. Then, possibly, they can learn that there can be more smiling moments. The world is dark, but God is a God of light and He can shine through the darkness and give us moments to smile again and truly learn to even laugh again.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
There can be great almost insurmountable guilt (by those that have been through Depression, Abuse, or in a Narcissistic relationship of any sort) that some experience when they are finally relieved of that situation or have a moment away from it and laugh at a joke or find themselves smiling at a sunset or simply sitting in the privacy of their own home without someone condescending and belittling them. This takes time and while for each person it is completely different, it is true that you can smile again and those moments feel as if they can lift 10,000 pounds off your heart.
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Don’t get overwhelmed trying to think of the big picture. Don’t wonder how are you supposed to smile and laugh when others are hurting. Don’t go out looking for moments to smile and laugh about so it’s unnatural and forced.
Just take some time and be still. Be still and know that He is God. Maybe it’s best if you take that time outside in a park or by the horizon at sunset. Maybe you take it on the backyard trampoline looking up in the sky early in the morning. Maybe it’s late at night with a cheesy comedy show on TV and you discover your laugh out loud again. Maybe it’s with a friend at lunch and you both say the same thing at the same time..and your eyes meet and you both smile.
Don’t get overwhelmed looking for it. Just try to be in the moment which can be very difficult if you have never done that before. Be right where you are, fully, and nowhere else.
Satan loves for us to worry about tomorrow or feel insurmountable guilt about the past. Because if we are stuck in either of those, we can’t be right where God meant us to be …. in the present moment.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you can be in the moment, just for one moment, guess what happens? The next moment will come and you can be in it too! What an absolute joy it is to be only where you actually are…and I’m not saying that it will stay that way. For myself, it is a constant struggle and I have to constantly pray about it and remind myself and gave my husband permission to remind me when he can see me going down the rabbit holes of worry or guilt or sadness.
It’s still ok to take a 15-minute cry break if you need it, but then put a stopping point on it, because if you don’t, it can swallow you whole and you won’t be able to find your present again.
Matthew 6:27
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”
So, if you can be in that one moment…thank God. Thank Him for His unfailing faithfulness. Thank Him for giving you that moment and ask Him to give you more of those moments.
So, why should you be happy in spite of the pain in the world and maybe even because of it?
My suggestion to you is this. If you can find moments to be present and appreciate the beauty, goodness, and kindness that is in the world, that you can be doing that in a beautiful way that is respectful to the pain that others and yourself have and are enduring. You can soak up a sunset wherever you live or are vacationing in such a grateful way that it does speak for those that are hurting and for your own pain.
Kindness and Gratitude and Humility….stay in those in the present moment and Joy can come in the morning.
Joy is NOT the same as happiness though so don’t be confused by that. Joy is a deep contented unnatural state of abiding trustworthiness to God that surpasses any current state of pain or worry or despair or fear. It is not something that can make sense in the human realm, and it can definitely co-exist with suffering as sometimes that is where we meet God…when Joy and Suffering co-mingle.
So, what can we do for others?
Be Kind. Empathetic. Be Thoughtful. Compassionate. Be Loving.
Galatians 6:2 tells us
“Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
I will share a personal first smile with yall.
When we moved from Georgia back to Alabama and we were all sitting around the dinner table eating takeout. It was just us eating together. That was a doozy for me.
My children were born while I was caregiving for my paralyzed mom and the 4 of us were literally never together. The girls were little so my husband would be gone in the morning before they woke up and mostly home after they went to bed at night. Then on the weekends, I was gone all weekend long taking care of my mom while he was Mr. Mom to the girls. When I did see them it was at church surrounded by lots of others or after church they would sometimes come over and share a meal with mom and dad and I, but I was caregiving for mom and there were still others around.
So, quite literally when we moved to Alabama, this was the first time the 4 of us had ever been together alone having a meal…at first, we kind of just all stared at each other as if we knew this was something foreign and strange to us and then one of the girls was being silly with their food and let out a belly giggle that sent us all into a burst of joyful and almost tearful laughter. It was sheer bliss. A moment I will treasure always.
Click here for a MASSIVE FREE custom printable SET just for you as a gift from our family to yours to remind you to Smile More!
Please comment below and share with us when you have found a smile during or after a struggle. Don’t stay in the darkness. Share your smile and let us celebrate with you!
Blessings,
Susan
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