Today I smiled … as my heart began to heal.

As our hearts begin to heal, we may find ourselves able to smile, laugh and cry all at once. Grief is a process not a place to dwell. The journey of healing is often bumpy and slow, with unexpected turns, until the raw, open wounds fade to dull aches and then only memories.

Listen to your heart and healing will follow.

Focus on the beauty around you:  the ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, the birds calling, the whiff of honeysuckle in the breeze, and the dance of the daisies along the roadside.

Offer gratitude and be gracious with loving, well meaning family, friends, clergy and strangers as they attempt to comfort, judge, explain, support, justify and encourage you towards a hasty recovery and a new happy life. Please and Thank you are reminders of your love and care for them.

Seek, offer and accept forgiveness from God, others and ourselves as human suffering will often reveal us at our worst moments.

Be kind and generous as a way to shift your focus from your personal pain to the care and concern of another. Helping others helps us even more.

Today I smiled, when a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds, a loved one stopped by unexpectedly, I was able to offer them a fresh cup of coffee and we laughed over the silliness of my mixed matched outfit … as my heart began to heal.

By Joan E Derrig-Heacox