In search of a photo of the stunning fog rising off the small lake I had just driven past, I walked down this path.

The path led to the lake but once there I realized that the rising sun was now behind me – I stood on the opposite side of the lake I had driven past and could no longer see the beautiful mist backlit by sunrise.

The path didn’t lead to the view I had hoped for but a different beauty greeted me.

When we are open to beauty, it is more likely to appear to us. When we share that gift by pointing it out to others, we find we have even more of it to celebrate.

Trebbe Johnson

Last week someone told me my life wasn’t normal. Which, while validating to hear, is not what I want to spend my brief days focused on. Hence stopping for fog, something most people on that road probably didn’t even notice.

Looking for beauty in the not-normal doesn’t negate the pain. Our hardships hurt and do damage. At the same time, pain doesn’t mean beauty no longer exists.

Looking for beauty in the not-normal changes my focus from being only on the pain to also being on gratitude. And gratitude reaches out and keeps my head above the waves.

My husband likes the term “spiritual jiu jitsu” to describe times when I figuratively end up on my back on the mat after encountering a major insight from God. For me, gratitude is like that. It provides a way for me to perform a throw down on the pain trying to beat me.

Well, maybe more like “Karate Kid” and “wax on, wax off.”

Focusing on gratitude, I find a way to deflect even more damage that the pain from my not-normal wants to deliver. Pain wants me on my back and down for the count.

Gratitude deflects and even heals the wounds that pain inflicts.

Perhaps the more pain I experience, the more crucial it is that I look for beauty.

Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment.

Henri Nouwen