There is pain. There is always pain. It is never perfect, the days, the efforts, the words, the actions. You fail. You win, but you fail just after that. Whatever it is, it’s a struggle. And you must smile. You must know yourself a man, imperfect, awkward, capable of more, of better, which you’ll see to in good time.
You must refuse, you must set yourself up against sadness, despair: resist it head on. Look it in the eyes and say no; without hate or fear, without hard feelings, deny it, and move on.
It isn’t just. It is evasion. It flatters us, but not the part of us we want or admire. It flatters the mind, frustrated, tired, not the courageous heart. The heart (hope, faith) can only detest it. Cheerfulness is yours if you want it.
Gray Haskins 