SMILING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC

by Richard P. Johnson

The best medicine for healing the emotional
and spiritual “insult” of our current pandemic


Day Twenty-Four

When I smile my pain and brokenness are easier to bear.

I am broken in ways both known and unknown to me.

Brokenness causes me pain on many levels: physical, emotional, familial, psychological, and/or spiritual.

Sometimes this brokenness threatens to overpower me, to take control of me.

Smiling lets me reclaim myself, lets me exert power over the pain and brokenness.

Smiling allows me to turn the tables as it were on the pain and brokenness, and once again take the reins of my life back, as opposed to letting pain of my brokenness control my life.

Smiling is my therapeutic antidote of choice for whatever life brings my way.

Naturally I want to consult with and use the tools of the medical community, yet if I do this with a frown rather than a smile, I undermine its potential benefit for me.

The world always looks brighter
from behind a smile.

Author Unknown

From The Power of Smiling: Using Positive Psychology For Optimal Health & Healing by Richard P. Johnson, PhD

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About the author

Dr. Johnson is nationally recognized for his pioneering work in Healing and Medical Behavioral Sciences. As Director of Behavioral Medicine at a large teaching medical center, Dr. Johnson was responsible for teaching medical interns and residents the “art” of medicine. He has taught hundreds of persons interested in healing. His fresh ideas and enthusiasm for the spiritual aspects of adult development and healing have inspired scores of maturing adults to follow their hearts and live more abundant lives. He is a dynamic, engaging, and compassionate teacher who delights in seeing his students grow personally and spiritually. He has written many articles and over 40 books all focused upon God’s expansive grace. Dr. Johnson is a devoted Catholic Christian; he and his wife Sandra live in St. Louis, they have three grown children and six grandchildren. Dr. Johnson holds a doctorate degree in clinical counseling from the University of Florida; he was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Holy Cross College, Notre Dame, Indiana in 2010.

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