I am not a big follower of YouTube. When I count how many channels that I subscribed to there are only five. Yet, occasionally, I will come across something on YouTube or I will come across someone who just reaches out and grabs hold of me and pulls me in. Then, I will likely get lost in exploring something or someone in greater detail.
Well, a few nights ago, I had one of those grabs me moments. I ran across a young woman named Claire Wineland’s YouTube channel and watched a video. Claire had what is called Cystic fibrosis for which there is no cure and which gets progressively worse over time. Yet, Claire is an accomplished speaker, author, and founder of a foundation that helps others with Cystic fibrosis.
What touched me so deeply was here is a young lady dealing with a condition which limits her life expectancy and who has spent one fourth of her life in hospitals to undergo treatments. Yet, Claire used much of her other time spreading the message to others that there is even with all her struggles a beauty to be found in life as well as a real happiness in her life.
What makes her message so much more powerful is the fact that she also speaks vary honestly about the reality of her life and she knows CF will in the end will win out. Still, she is able to make the following statement:
“...our lives are like empty hospital rooms. We get so stuck in the idea that oh, it’s supposed to be good or bad. Oh, if we’re sick well, you know that then it’s cold and its sterile and we just have to live with it like that and we don’t let ourself realize and we don’t let ourselves see that we can make that hospital room beautiful and we can make our lives into a piece of art. We all have that ability. We all have that capability as human beings to turn those empty hospital rooms into something really beautiful.”
I think Claire challenges all of us to see beyond our current set of circumstances whatever they maybe and to see and understand that even in the most trying of circumstances there are incredibly happy experiences to be had. I think it is like on a cloudy and rainy day, one person sees it as something that ruins one’s plans and the other person sees a cloudy and rainy day as a blessing and they are incredibly happy.
It is my thought and prayer that my eyes are able to see beyond my current circumstances to see the beauty and the potential that exists. I will also put a link below to Claire’s YouTube Channel so you can hear this incredible young lady for yourself.
Thoughts? E-mail: francisearly@francisearly.com
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