This is only one of my twenty three grand children. I literally have thousands of perfect pictures, and I’m sure you do too. But perfect pictures are just that…Perfect, they really don’t tell the story.

Behind someone’s smile there might be distress, depression, anxiety, illness, loneliness and even fear. Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover you also can’t tell what’s going on in a person’s life by their face.

Taking the time to really get to know someone may reveal a person far different than what you saw on the surface. We all need someone who cares enough to hear our story. Life would really be mundane if we were all the same and experienced the same things.

I can’t begin to count the number of times that I have been inspired to be a better person because of watching someone else’s struggles and how they have pushed forward through something difficult.

We may all hide behind a picture perfect face at times but it is when we show our true self that others will see that even during difficult times our strengths will shine through lifting those around us.

Don’t be afraid to share your story, it might just be what someone needs to hear!

by Tanya Christiansen