Mud or Stars

I am a person who keeps important paper for as long as I can. You never know when you will need the information. It is the writer in me. I can't help it. Anyway, the other day I was going through some old cards, yes I save those too. I am sentimental. I found a white index card with an encouraging message that a friend gave me during my early days of marriage. I started remembering the feelings that came back when she gave the card to me. I was having a hard time in my marriage and she said I hope this encourages you. She is a single professional who was reading a book, she never told me the title of the book, that simply put, encouraged her. She said, "I hope it will encourage you also". It was only two lines that read like this:

Two women looked through prison bars,
one saw mud the other stars.

From that time on I realized your outlook on your situation is important and up to you, not the other person. Everyone's relationship and life has problems. It's how you choose to handle them. The mental state you decide to be in makes a world of a difference. So I now pass the index card to you. "I hope it will encourage you also."