Think your days are “rotten”…think again!

Feeling a little beaten up?  Things aren’t going right at all?   In fact, you think things are just rotten!

Maybe your holidays were good, but not as good as they could have been.   How often we think of “only what if”!   Some of you may even be saying that there were just too many people at my house at Christmas; someone I love did not show up…or even call;  there was just not enough time to do what I wanted to do; or worried about what 2015 will hold for you…so on and so on.

You think your days are rotten and you’d like to just go down to the local bar and forget it all like Hemingway.  Unfortunately, we remember how his life ended.

Well, sister or brother…you probably don’t have anything to complain about. I thought I’d show you some rare photographs sent to me by a friend. Let’s take a journey to the past when rotten was really rotten!

Most likely you were not hiding in a cave like this woman in WWII

You might be in a war zone, but you have not just survived a bomb like the one dropped on Nagasaki.  This woman was even able to smile in the midst of all the devastation.

You are not about to be assassinated like Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife which led to WWI

Most likely your entire family was not murdered like the Romanovs shown here from left to right: Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Pictured at Livadia Palace in 1913

You are not hiding like Anne Frank and her family during WWII

You may be a nurse caring for babies and children but not trying to save them from gas warfare like these nurses of WWII

You are not a 106 year Armenian woman protecting her home with an AK 47

Cheer up…yes, there is terrorism in the world. Terrible things happen but do not forget the brave of the past who can encourage us with their lives. In the time of trouble, people used their talents and showed us the way! They stepped up to the plate…did not feel sorry for themselves…but moved on for what was best for themselves, fellow citizens, and their country.

Young Winston Churchill prepared to lead.

As an older Winston, he rode through France and took a light from an ordinary citizen because victory had been won!

Royalty and Heads of State took up their positions to serve and lead as Queen Elizabeth in WWII

Business men helped the economy and forged the future like William Harley and Arthur Davidson known today as the famous Harley motorcycles ridden by millions.

Construction of our infrastructure moved on like the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 after WWI.

We honored our Leaders at Mt. Rushmore who brought us through with their profound abilities.

The brilliant minds continued to reach into the future as did  Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr.

Yes,  in the midst of the worst…they were defiant as this man on the worst day of his life!

Go outside…feel the sun…pick a flower…tell someone you love them. Your day does not have to be rotten. Keep things in perspective and “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Post note:  After this post, a reader wrote me this comment after she, a music teacher in a rural school,  had received some unhappy news from her employer.