My Resilient cheerfulness

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Probably one of the best compliments I have ever received in my life comes from a card written to me from my brother, just hours before he got married:
... you, as big sister, have always looked out for me, and in many things, you've been a role model, especially your resilient cheerfulness which I know is rooted in the faith we share,...
I don't know about always having looked out for him, I seem to remember a bit of fighting back in the good old days. I also know that acting happy when one does not feel happy is by no means something that I have always done, nor do all the time now. But I came to realize quite a few years ago that people don't tend to enjoy being around a self-pitying person and have since then worked on at least seeming happy.

And you know, when you joke about things that are going wrong, it makes them easier to deal with. So, if someone thinks that I have resilient cheerfulness, to me that is a great compliment and some kind of sign that yes, I am perhaps slowly becoming a better person.

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