One family went to Hawaii and had the best vacation they ever had. They went hiking, swam under a waterfall, enjoyed two luaus and learned to snorkel.  The best part was reconnecting with each other as a family.  They laughed at silly inside jokes and felt free and unhurried.  Truly a miracle.

 

Another family also went on vacation to Hawaii.  They discovered the two big sisters had to share not only a room, but also a bed.  The couple they sat with at the first luau yelled at each other and was literally miserable in paradise.  Then to top it all off, three of them got strep throat and threw up.  Truly a disaster.

 

Guess what?  This is the same family having the same vacation.  The difference is gratitude.  The inside joke?  “AloHA!” bags in the car just in case someone needed to say another “aloha” to his or her lunch.  We became like a well-oiled machine at recognizing the early signs of strep and became frequent flyers to the local urgent care clinic.  We laughed about it and the kids ate popsicles in the bathtub.

 

The good news is that the anti-biotic really works and within a day or two, whomever was sick, was feeling better.  In the meantime, it was movie night and long naps on the lanai.  We were so happy to be away and so happy to relax and so grateful that our trip to the volcano and the waterfall and luaus were okay.  We managed to enjoy those milestones between sick days and we were able to take those feeling up to it to the beach while my husband or myself held down the fort at home, (held down being the operative words.)

 

Here’s the thing, even paradise can be less than heavenly, but we can still control our own happiness.  Happiness is a choice, even when frustration tries to take over, (you know, like that overbearing know-it-all at a party), you can thank it for sharing, and tell it to sit down and be quiet.   Choose to have fun and laugh at the absurdity of the situation.   Look for the silly, the good and the happy, because believe me, the gross, the bad and the ugly tend to present themselves.  After all, if you don’t tell frustration to shut up, it will go on and on and bore everyone, even you.

 

You deserve to have more fun and your family deserves to know that we really can laugh at adversity, (it freaks adversity out).

 

It’s just one more way to keep your face to the sun so all shadows will fall behind.

 

Marilynn

 

Categories: General

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