Laughter is often the Best Medicine; prescribe it for yourself!

"A Joyful Heart" 11 x 14 pastel on bristol

It’s true! You can’t be sad or angry when you’re laughing. When you laugh, you feel better – it’s a given! So why don’t we do it more often?

We get in a hole that we can’t dig ourselves out of. When everything looks bleak, we shut ourselves off from the very inspiration or people that could help us. We need a hand out and a hand up, but our pride prevents us from reaching out.

The cure for what ails us is close at hand, but our grief and gloom can’t see it. If this describes you, take heart in the fact that you’re not alone. Everyone has these moments when they feel lost and in the dark. We all face disappointment and unhappiness. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and laughter can ease the pain.

Comparing your plight to someone else’s may help you see beyond the present moment. Look around and analyze how other people handle trials and tribulations. How do they cope? Where does their courage and faith come from? You can always find another person with larger failures, greater pain and physical limitations than your own.

"Broken Hearted" 11 x 14 pastel on bristol

Here is a man who was homeless for most of his life; a man who wrote beautiful poetry. Finally, someone saw the beauty in his soul.

http://vimeo.com/85667492 

If you’re life is going well, you could be that person who reaches out to help someone else. If more people would do this, less heartache, drug overdoses or suicide attempts would occur. We are our brothers and sisters keepers or, at least, we should be.

Unfortunately an introverted selfishness has crept into our society. You can feel it when you’re shopping, driving on the highway, waiting in lines at the grocery store, interacting with strangers in public places.

Are you the one who cuts other people off on the road? Do you race past others and elbow your way to the front of the line? When was the last time you allowed someone else to go before you? It’s surprising how much better you feel about yourself when grace and courtesy becomes the norm instead of a rarity.

"Moody Blues" oil on canvas

Stress busters are just that: they’re actions taken by you that pull back the driving forces of your life. When you slow down and enjoy the moment instead of racing to the finish, your food tastes better, people become more likable, tension is gradually released and the world looks bright once again.

We all live on the same planet. We breathe the same air. We have the same needs and wants. Isn’t it time we tried to make this earth more peaceable and user friendly? Why not crush evil and incivility with kindness and faith. Let’s crawl out of our dark holes of self-centeredness and welcome life with new joy and purpose.

"With These Hands -- Love" 24 x 18 oil on canvas

Sadness is a Part of Life; Death is Inevitable

My sister was my hero. For almost 40 years she battled Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.). She was in a wheel chair for the last 20-25 of those years. In all that time, I never heard a complaint or a negative word. She remained optimistic with her faith intact.

When people would visit, it was they who went away uplifted. Her laughter and bubbly personality never wavered in spite of her disability. When her speech began to falter, I remember sitting with her hoping to understand what she was trying to say. I began a game of charades to help her express what was on her heart. This resulted in a raft of giggles from both of us until I finally discovered her meaning.

“Thank God my sister is still in there,” I remember thinking.

The last time we were together I wasn’t so sure. By this time she was almost comatose. Her large eyes stayed open. What I thought were tears of joy at our meeting were only her body’s response to moisten her eyes. Her skin was radiant and wrinkle free. She had not a gray hair on her head. How could she be so ill and look so beautiful?

I decided it was her spirit shining through. The nurse fed her a noontime lunch with a syringe filled with nutrients which she inserted into Jean’s feeding tube. This caused her breathing tube to bubble and froth as she took air in and out. I wiped the spittle from her mouth with a towel and felt honored to be able to do this for her, helping her through this arduous humiliating ordeal.

Somewhere inside did she recognize me and know I was there? I hope so. I had only been home a few days when I received a call that she had passed away. Had she held on long enough to see me? So many close calls had come and gone. She was in and out of the hospital on the brink of death throughout the past 20 years.

I will miss her. I miss the beautiful person she was and the person she continued to be through all the ups and downs, the falls, the concussions, the broken ribs that occurred as she fought to stay upright on her own. I will miss her courage and her optimism. She fought a good fight. She remained faithful and true. Those who knew her and loved her were the better for having known her.

We are not alone. People notice us wherever we go even though we may not know it. We influence for good or bad everyone around us; a small act of kindness, an encouraging word, a warm hand reaching out to comfort do not go unnoticed. The gifts of the soul are simple and free, but they last forever.

She is in a better place. I imagine her dancing and singing and doing all of the things she was prevented from doing; a prisoner of her horrible disease. Sing Jean!  Dance Jean, rejoice and be glad for the Lord your God shall shelter you from all pain and sickness.

Artist of My Soul

O Lord of light, of form and hue,
   Who has created all things new,
Create in me, from shapeless clay,
   An instrument on which You play.

God of the dance that planets tread,
   Who walks beside and soars ahead,
O let me move to worship Thee,
   Come, Holy Spirit, dance with me.

God of the Living Word, Poet of Time,
   Teach me Your words
   in Your cadence and rhyme.

O Lord of beauty, Lord of art
   Who gives a song for every heart,
Carve out my life, reshape and mold,
   And be the Artist of my soul.

(He hath put a new song in my mouth.
 Psalm 40:3 NIV)