could be worse

things could be worse.
much worse.
sure, my situation isn't good. it's disappointing. unfortunate.
but it could be worse.
i could be in this same situation,
but..
still be thinking that it was all i was good enough for,
that i didn't deserve anything better,
that it was caused my own badness and inequality with those other wonderful people who had such happier, glorious, more boastworthy lives than i.
but no
that's not true
not anymore.
instead i know
that i have been wonderfully made
by my Creator
i am capable of great things
i am loved, so loved by my God
that He gave it all for me.
He knows my every thought
He counts my every hair
He gives me talents, gifts, a quirky personality
not just for my own enjoyment
but to reflect His own creativity
and to draw out the good qualities in others
as they complement my own to create wonderful balance
in relationships, in work, in life
(we are all like this, but i'm just speaking for myself right now)
yes things could be worse
but like the man in that movie,
i forget the name,
the man who is sent with his young son
to a concentration camp somewhere in Nazi-led Germany in the 1940's,
but instead of mourning their horrible existence
he finds joy, somehow, using his creative mind
making up stories and fictional scenarios
sharing these glimpses of light
with his son to cheer him up
despite the grimness, the horrors surrounding them.
no my situation isn't a concentration camp
but i can take on that same type of human spirit
to be positive through hard times
to put my faith in the Holy Spirit of Christ
which lives in me
to find the good
to fan those good things into a warm flame inside my heart
that perseveres
even through sadness
through disappointment
through hopes deferred
i will know that there is joy
in leaving something of beauty
of goodness, of love
with this world
once i am gone.