Photo of Jerry as a child provided by Jerry Smith
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Jerry Smith continued, “After receiving my diagnosis on a Friday
evening, I went home full of despair, anger and rage and in my private room I
screamed at God for this latest tragedy. I began remembering all of my life,
step-by-step and blaming God for each. By the time I was back to the present
time, I was suddenly calm and peaceful and not angry or despondent. I
remembered that I had never given up in my life and realized I wouldn't give up
now. So with a clear mind I analyzed what options I had and the only one I could
think of was to search the Internet worldwide for help. I was able to look back
and see that it was God's way of having me clear my mind, to be rational where
I could think.”
He described demons he overcame early on, “At an early age, I
developed fear, anger, hate along with depression and sadness. I eventually
built a wall around me emotionally where I practically stopped having feelings
about anything. That wall lasted for most of my life. I resisted caring about
anything or anybody. I didn't know what Christmas or birthdays were, I wasn’t
able to cope with my surroundings until I was middle age. I guess that you
could say that I was almost Zombie like. One thing that I developed at a very
early age was my ability to talk to myself and my dream of the day when I was
grown and I could do and have everything that I wanted that I couldn't have
now. I lived through my dreams.”
His advice for others suffering, “Passionately find
and hold onto hope. Believe in yourself and a higher being. If you can believe
in God then turn to him daily and ask for help and his will. And importantly
search for possibilities where you can try and help yourself at the same time.
I believe that you have to try to do every possible thing, asking for help from
anyone and at the same time doing everything you can possibly do yourself. I
don't think that there is a magic bullet that fits everyone."
Jerry talked about life today. “I've been married for 38 years,
passionately love my wife more and more each day. I believe that after finding
God and the ability to forgive, I learned to love my wife and children and
others more and in such a way that I never experienced before. We have nineteen
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. My passion is to reach out to
help others and to make America aware of this exploding lung disease, Pulmonary
Fibrosis. We live in Dallas, Texas.”
He discussed his book, “My message is, that no matter if you are
suffering from childhood traumas, dysfunctional families or disease, there is
always hope. To never give up to your last day on earth. Reach out and help
others and if you do you will be rewarded even if it's only satisfaction and
happiness. I believe that there is no greater happiness than helping others and
receiving that call, note or email saying Thank you for changing my life.”
Jerry was asked what he attributes most to the triumph in
transcending his life.
He replied, “Finding God and the answer to happiness being
Forgiveness and also that God had walked with me throughout my life, even
though I was unaware of it. In looking back I now see that so many decisions
that I made when I didn't have a parent to turn to, and I had a couple of
choices to decide from, that most of the time I made the right choice. Most of
my life I attributed the right choice to my gut feeling, almost never being
wrong. I realize now that the gut feeling, all along, was God.”
He continued, “After my attempted suicide, my desire to find
happiness began, God began to reveal his plan for my life and how I had to
begin by learning to forgive. As happiness developed so did God's purpose for
my life. It began with writing my book, people began calling me for help. That
led to public speaking and then to radio and television. I had never been able
to do any of those things before but I learned a very important lesson. God
will never give us a purpose that he won't prepare us for.”
His closing words, “Never give up hope and have faith in God. Just
remember, if you haven't quit then you haven't failed.”
Click below to visit his website for more information about
Jerry Smith, his books, medical detail, media and more. Email Jerry, jerry@jerrysmith.org,
and/or call him on his cell (214) 681-5377.
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