How to keep the faith during sadness.

We all have a story to tell. We all feel pain. But what to do when we have lost something dear to us? What to do when we have no control of an outcome?

Often these questions are especially asked when we lose a love one to death. We feel mad at the world and, if believers of God, we ponder why us? Did we do something wrong to deserve this?

I am here to tell you I have been there and done that. I am here to tell you that more than just you and me have been in those shoes. I am also here to tell you...do not lose faith.

I know you are thinking easier said than done, right?

Yes, it is one of the hardest lessons to give your worries and attachments away. It is hard to say that you feel true happiness after feeling a loss close to your heart.

I felt like my world had fallen apart when I lost my brother to illness, almost two years ago. I was mad at the world. I was mad at God.

I literally took hibernation from the external world. I was in much pain,but I do remember church folks telling me to believe.

Eventually, after they stopped telling me that, life went on. People kept moving, while I was still mourning. Sometimes, I would cry at night or look at a picture feeling sad. Then, in the morning, hide my sadness behind a smile.

But then, I realized, I had to stop feeling sorry for myself, my family and my brother. There were people who have suffered as I have in similar experiences. There were people that have been through worse, such as losing an entire family.

And sometimes one has to wonder during a funeral are you crying because you feel sorry the person has passed or are you crying because you were left behind? You felt the person was obligated to still be alive because you could not bear living without he or she?

It is understandable.

But what I have come to grasp is that you have to give your worries away and enjoy those in your life at all times! Maybe it is true that people come into your life for a reason, a season,and a life time.

Maybe what counts is just the present. Maybe you should hope for enough joy to make you kind and appreciative. Maybe we should hope for enough struggle to make us strong and wise. Maybe we should hope for an enough sorrow to make us know we are only human. And above all, maybe we should try to live our lives to the fullest because we are never guaranteed tomorrow.

What does this have to do with comforting you? What does this have to do with making you less angry at the world? None of what I have said eases the pain...only time can do that.


But maybe this will make you smile:

When we were born, we were crying to show we existed, to show we were alive. Everyone around us was smiling, welcoming us to the world. Maybe death is the reverse way. Maybe you or a loved one can be smiling, while everyone around you or your loved one is crying. Smiling on the good times and smiling because you/he/ she are finally at peace and one with God.

Now that is a fairytale I can roll with, thinking only that life was but a dream.