"At the same time, life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it. Each mind makes its own little world. The cheerful mind makes it pleasant, and the discontented mind makes it miserable. “My mind to me a kingdom is,” applies alike to the peasant as to the monarch. The one may be in his heart a king, as the other may be a slave. Life is for the most part but the mirror of our own individual selves. Our mind gives to all situations, to all fortunes, high or low, their real characters. To the good, the world is good; to the bad, it is bad. If our views of life be elevated – if we regard it as a sphere of useful effort, of high living and high thinking, of working for other’s good as well as our own --- it will be joyful, hopeful, and blessed. If, on the contrary, we regard it merely as affording opportunities for self-seeking, pleasure, and aggrandizement, it will be full of toil, anxiety, and disappointment.

There is much in life that, while in this state, we can never comprehend. There is, indeed, a great deal of mystery in life – much that we see “as a glass darkly.”
But though we may not apprehend the full meaning of the discipline of trial through which the best have to pass, we must have faith in the completeness of the design of which our little individual live form a part. We have each to do our duty in that sphere of life in which we have been placed." Samuel Smiles

These are the final words of advice at the end of the book "Happy Homes and The Hearts That Make Them. I like the practical and common sense approach of Smiles, great name huh?
His advice helps thin out the drama for me. Truth in plain clothes; truth that applies to every facet of our life. I initially jotted this down for my two of my granddaughters that have passed through a very difficult year where 'faith in the completeness of the design', was difficult to grasp. May it embolden them as well as all.