Sharing with others daily words, thoughts and meditations that bring myself hope and renewal during my own daily battles and frustrations with COPD/Asthma.  Sharing, because as we all know – without that horizon of hope, our daily renewal of faith and fight can dim in a hurry.

Take, read, meditate and hopefully find some of the same hope in your day as I have within mine…..

The Word – “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.”  (Luke 6:23)

The Thought – When a person is battling an unpredictable chronic illness or disability, there will always be time when the illness or disability will toss you a surprise episode and many times at a time that makes other tasks at hand to be tossed aside.

How do we deal with those moments?  Do we get angry and frustrated, which makes the illness or disability the winner – or do we rejoice in the episode and celebrate the positives which come from it, which makes us the winner.

Many folks throughout the world have been celebrating Easter this weekend and Easter is really nothing more than a celebration of a positive that came out of an otherwise horrific act of brutality toward a true man of faith, a man of peace, a man of the people – the positive that the man rose up and within the spirits he lifted himself to victory in order to bring the people hope, faith, love and grace.

So, it is also with our relationship with the chronic illness or disability that we have, while we can for long periods of time travel along in peace and harmony, there will be other times when the distress and concern that same illness or disability can cause a horrific moment of change within our travels, only to simmer down and eventually we find another stretch of times to rejoice in the peace and tranquility that once again joins our life and travels.

If one allows time each day with the Great Spirits, a person can and should eventually find that their time with the Great Spirits is like time with a friend, an older uncle, a parent.  And while each time should be spent thanking the Great Spirits for all that is given to surround us with as we travel our path of life, just as importantly we should be getting off our chest those items in our path that have or are causing great concern and distress.

The thought for today is that no matter what the distress or horrific episode our chronic illness or disability may throw our direction, we must always look to rejoice in the positives of hope, faith, love and grace that lie within those moments as well as the rejoicing we will have after the episode passes.

The Meditation/Prayer – Great Spirits, we always give thanks for the wonders of the world you surround us with as we travel this path of life itself.  We will also praise those wonders, while also continue to look toward you, Great Spirits, for the guidance and wisdom to see the rejoicing even in those distressful times of hurt and pain our chronic illness or disability may cause us.  We will always aim, no matter what the moments our travels may be in, to rejoice in the direction of those four fundamentals of happiness – those being hope, faith, love and grace.

And we all say Hallelujah, Amen.

(Copyright@2017, CrossDove Writer – reusable by written permission only)

(More ‘Living 4 Today’ writings can be found at either wheezingaway.com or on Facebook at COPD Travels.)