Ice Packs and Other Fluids

For all the humans out there who are wondering, "When is this going to end?" and "Is this the rest of my life?" as you sit on the bathroom floor sick to your stomach, as you sit on the couch with ice packs on more of your skin then clothes, as your eyes go blurry in a flood of endless tears … you are seen.

There is only so much cleansing your insides can relieve, only so much an ice pack can soothe, only so much tears can explain. And then there is more after that. There is poison that lingers even after the bathroom. There is pain that pangs in your bones even after the ice is melted. Even tears leave their mark on your face after they're long dry. Why then are there these moments in life? Why does not WATER always heal? Why do we not always feel LOVE?

Brené Brown concluded in her research that the depth of our pain wells is equivalent to the depth of our joy wells. Meaning, that it is only through more pain that we can experience more joy.

This is not the news I ever wanted to hear. But when I see others on the bathroom floor hoping one day to feel better, and others covered in ice packs hoping one day to move again, and others covered in tears hoping one day the crisis will end, it gives me hope that one day they will experience joy to the depth of the pain they feel.

So I see you, you who hopes to feel better and you who hopes to move again and you who hopes the crisis is nearing an end. You are the ones that give us hope that one day joy will abound to new depths. Thank you for the LOVE you share with the world as you sit in pain; because only LOVE endures pain so that joy can come.

How deep are your wells of joy?