cry, laugh, listen, and pray

We've all heard it..."be kind to everyone, for everyone is facing a battle all their own" or something to that affect. I'm guilty of going about my day forgetting this. I'm guilty of taking my blessings for granted. Most days I go through the motions. On days like last Thursday I'm rocked to the core when bad news follows bad news to people I hold dear and there is nothing I can do or say to stop it or make it better. 

The only thing to do in these moments is cry, laugh through memory, listen, and pray.

We all deal with sad and uncomfortable things differently. I'm a crier. A sobbing wet hot mess of a crier. I'm also someone who laughs in uncomfortable silence....most times grasping for something, anything that can make the person on the other end of that phone call laugh with me...hearing the air that leaves their mouth that I know is forming a smile however small heals my heart just the slightest bit. I pray that it's doing the same to theirs. 

I'm also someone who will try to listen. I've done lots of grumbling in my day and have had amazing people in my life willing to listen to my baggage. How lucky I am. As I get older I've come to appreciate the endless amounts of hours that friends and family have lent me their ear...set aside judgement...hugged me when I didn't want it, or just sat with me in a silence that was a little less scary not having to sit alone. 

Finally, I'm someone that prays. I haven't always been this person, and I believe I was left hurting even more because I wasn't praying. When I wasn't praying I wasn't close to God. Looking back I know that this was why the hurt, the darkness, and the worry never left me as soon as I wanted it to. There was a deep void that I was always trying to fill with everything except the one thing that I needed. A relationship with Him. 

The day after Thursday was a new day, a better day, and I know even through the hurt...we can cry, laugh, listen, and pray.