The road does not look too royal. In fact, it is all but that. It is heartache. It is being misunderstood. It is lack of confidence. It is trials, tribulations, and lots of adversity. Yes, it is all that, but the very thing that can lead us—and especially me—is knowing that my life, and all those things above, are meant to become my message and my hope, not just for me, but most especially for others.
“The Royal Road to Happiness” is the title of a chapter in a book called The Majesty of Calmness. I picked this book up while standing outside a hospital room where my father’s sponsor was dying of cancer. My dad was sober at the time, but he would later lose his life to the disease of alcoholism.
I have recounted numerous times how deeply my life was impacted by the disease of alcoholism. No other factor or occurrence in my life has been more telling in who I have become and who I am still becoming. No other thing has led me to the pits of hell and then, conversely, to the mountaintop. The mountaintop where I can share and proclaim that your life can be good—I mean really good—even if those around you are choosing a different path.
When I picked up The Majesty of Calmness, I must have turned to that chapter, and the whole chapter was great. I devoured it and took it into my soul. I believed every word of it. Remember, I had started at age ten, sitting on my pink bedspread, reading biographies and writing affirmations and gratitudes, so my soul and spirit were ripe for words of healing and hope.
The actual phrase, which I just reread this morning, is:
“And Happiness would come to them, in its highest and best form, not because they would seek to absorb it, but, — because they seek to radiate it.”
At that moment, I had the subtle yet strong feeling that yes, that is what I wanted to do with my life. I am sure that at such a young age I did not know how, but I knew that was the core principle on which I wanted to build my life.
It has not been a straight path forward, and I know that nothing worthwhile is. Without the adversity, I would have no business trying to teach others that they can live fully in spite of hardships. I know now that every single thing was necessary to get me here.
This morning, I am about to go speak to a big room of precious women in Washington County, and I am praying that God will put something in me that might shed light for someone. The older I get, the more I realize that the only way to hold on to light is to give it away. I am praying that God will allow me to really, really radiate the happiness that I have been privileged to live.
I am thankful for all the adversity that has helped me live in such a way that I can indeed radiate happiness.
Grateful, so grateful,
Karen
