Happiness in Any Circumstance

In the past week, I had the chance to hear Stephanie and Christian Nielson speak. In 2008, they were in an airplane crash with a close friend of theirs. Their friend died, but they miraculously escaped alive. 60% of Christian's skin was burned past the point of recovery, and 80% of her own was burnt to a crisp.

Stephanie described the arduous, exquisitely painful road to recovery. The details are hard to hear, and she could tell it better than I can summarize it, so check out her blog if you want to read the full, harrowing, inspiring story.

She is an incredible woman, the kind of strong, faithful woman I hope I am. Before the crash, she was gorgeous. After the crash, they had to replace the skin on her face with skin from her scalp. As a result, the skin grafts appear pinkish and deformed. She lost her beauty, but none of her inner glow. She says that every morning, she wakes up and looks at herself in the mirror. She clearly sees her imperfections, how ugly and weird her skin is, but she also sees hope. After hearing everything she went through, I understood how meaningful that word was to her. She said that she saw her face, but she also saw a strong, faithful, resilient woman. She saw a survivor who found happiness in the promises of her beliefs, her family, her husband. She did not let her circumstances define her life.

I learned so much from Stephanie and Christian that night, but more than anything, I learned that we can be happy no matter what happens to us. Happiness - I'm talking the sincere, deep feeling of joy - is entirely our own choice. It depends on how resilient we choose to be. If Stephanie can not only get over her past, but then re-live the terrible moments of her past to strengthen others, yet still be joyful, then what excuse could I ever have to not be?