Gwinnett Daily Post

• Favorite entry Your favorites
• Discuss Comment, Blog about
• Share this Email, Facebook, Twitter
• Print Story

Have you ever had one of those days, make that one of those years, when it seems that everything that could go wrong, does? Unexpected expenses crop up, health problems arise, a family crisis unfolds. It’s been said that bad things come in threes. I suppose an argument can be made for that assertion, but sometimes I think that life just has seasons of both bounty and famine, health and illness. It’s just natural. If we live long enough, we all experience it.

This year has been one of those tough ones for my family. Oh things could be much worse, that’s for sure, but 2012 has been a very trying year thus far, and we still have another quarter to go. I try to remember that, in the overall scheme of things, my family is very blessed. In other words, I try to see the trees in spite of the forest.

It’s in times like these that I’m very grateful that both my husband and I have senses of humor. I’m not sure where we’d be if we didn’t.

The way I see it, we have two choices when life throws us a curveball: we can laugh, or we can cry. Either way, it’s still a curve ball. Not to get too personal in such a public forum, but our year has thrown us some financial surprises, a couple of surgeries and a few issues with our children (and no matter their ages, don’t their problems always affect us?).

Yes, it’s been a trying year, but if we get out of what’s left of it without permanent repercussions I’ll consider us lucky. I think we’re defined not by our life circumstances but by the way we react to those circumstances. I can’t say I’ll always choose to laugh through the tough times, but I sure hope I do. After all, our stories all have the same ending; what matters is how we get to it, right?

Carole Townsend is also a Gwinnett Daily Post staff correspondent and author of “Southern Fried White Trash.” The book takes a humorous look at families and how we behave when thrown together for weddings, funerals and holidays. She has been quoted on msnbc.com, in the LA Times, USA Today and the Christian Science Monitor, been featured on FOX 5 News and CNN, and is often a guest on television and radio shows nationwide. She currently travels throughout the southeast, meeting readers at book signings and speaking publicly at various events. Her next book, “Red Lipstick and Clean Underwear,” will be released in October 2012.