So as many of you know, I’m a Disney fan, and I have been thinking about the movie, Encanto.  I didn’t think I would like the movie, but I watched it and enjoyed the message.  The premise of the movie is that the matriarch was given a miracle when her husband was killed.  She was left to care for her triplets, two girls and a boy, who were given gifts to support their community and the miracle that they had been given.  As the matriarch’s grandchildren came along, they were also given gifts, until it was time for one of the granddaughters to get her gift, and she was skipped over.  She didn’t get a gift, but was focused on her family.  In the end, the family comes together, because of the granddaughter, to make the family stronger.  They learn that they are more than their gifts, but they also understand that sometimes a gift isn’t noticeable at first.          

                So many times, when I’m working with patients, they have strengths that they can’t acknowledge.  They care about others and try to help others when they can.  They might love their family so much that they sacrifice their own happiness to make sure that their family is provided a good life.  They might also have trauma in their history, making it hard to understand to acknowledge their strengths but they are still there.  Everyone has things to offer a community, a family, and a country.

                As I watch the news, and the amazing things that the people in Ukraine are doing to protect their right to live in peace, I’m amazed by their strengths.  I don’t know if I would have the courage they do, but I’m sure there are people fighting who might have said the same thing before being faced with current events.  They found strength and courage they didn’t know they had in the face of conflict and destruction.  They are fighting for their lives, and way of life, to make sure the future of their country can continue.

                As the world continues to learn to live with COVID, there are scientists who continue to work on keeping us alive and working.  Doctors are learning how to cure cancer, and so many other medical issues that killed people in years past.  People are also banding together to help others.  They are raising money to support causes, and neighbors are helping neighbor’s life a better life.  Kids are raising money and things needed to help others, and grandmothers are making things for hospice agencies that make someone’s final moments better.  Who knows how much more we can do to make our world a better place.

                We all have strengths, and we can use those strengths to help ourselves and each other.  We might not be a doctor or a scientist that are finding cures for medical issues, but we can help a neighbor.  We can volunteer for a good cause by making crafts that can make the lives of others better.  Even if we don’t think we have things to offer, we do.  We all have strengths, although maybe not the amazing gifts from Encanto, but gifts none the less.   Remember your strengths, and use them for good.  It can help you in your quest to be happy, for life.