Willa Cather, one of my most favorite authors, having written painfully lovely books, such as O Pioneers, My Antonia, Death Comes to the Archbishop, in her memoir about her days in the Mediterranean, “Le Lavandou,” writes, “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour, at the world’s end somewhere, and holds fast to the days, as to fortune or fame.”
Abraham Maslow presents the idea that, “Whereas the average individuals ‘often have not the slightest idea of what they are, of what they want, of what their own opinions are,’ self-actualizing individuals have ‘superior awareness of their own impulses, desires, opinions, and subjective reactions in general’.”
Martha Washington is attributed to having said, “I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
“Joy seems to be a part of an unconditional wish to live, not holding back because life may not meet our preferences and expectations. Joy seems to be a function of the willingness to accept the whole, and to show up to meet whatever is there. It has a kind of invincibility that attachment to any particular outcome would deny us” (Kitchen Table Wisdom 171).
2 Corinthians 1:4 says we are comforted in our troubles so that we can provide comfort/compassion to others during their trials.
Yet, I am just a person living life on life's terms, and hard things happen.
Pics by Nick - 6 years ago this week, just after receiving my diagnosis.
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