I do not know the backstory of either person pictured above, but you don’t have to know all the details to be impressed by what we see here. Two individuals who have something in common have found each other. Their paths may only cross for a brief moment, but in that moment something wonderful is expressed. Someone who has been down a difficult path has an unspoken message for a younger person who faces that same path. The message is that obstacles can be overcome, and that success–and the joy that comes with it–is well within your reach.

Whatever difficulties we have had to overcome in life, let us always be looking for opportunities to encourage others who face those same trials.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”—2 Corinthians 1:3-4.