Finding the Silver Lining
For every tough phase in life, there is always a silver lining.
“Unless you have bad times, you cannot appreciate the good times” Joe Torre
There is so much truth in the above quote. You realize the importance of positive thinking and being grateful for all the good things, when negativity creeps in. Tough times make you realize that life has given you some precious happy moments which need to be captured and remembered always. Shifting the focus to all positive things in life, helps to lessen the negativity of the situation. For every tough phase in life, there is always a silver lining.
Truth be told, this is easy to say, but very difficult to follow, especially if you are engulfed in tough times. The effort to try being positive is worth it.
Lesson in Gratitude
The real meaning of gratitude hits us when we realize how blessed and privileged we are to get a roof over our heads, have parents who took care of us, who gave us the most important thing in this life , education and taught us values which helped us with who we are.
When you see suffering all around, with people engaged in battles for trivial reasons, countries entering into wars against each other leaving behind suffering and loss, siblings fighting for rights over their parents property and wealth, then you realize how blessed one is. We have more to gain from having a grateful perspective on life.
We do not have control over our emotions. But when the going gets tough, an attitude of gratitude can help us cope with it.Gratitude may not come easily, but it is something we all need to try for. It shows us the value of good things that we have received in life. Consciously developing such attitude can cushion us against tough times.
Awakening- My friends cancer
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
Last week, I was in the hospital attending to one of my dearest friend who was detected with cancer. I noticed she was calm and composed with no sign of fear. She kept praying and thanking God for early detection of the dreaded disease and kept convincing all of us around her that she will win this battle. Her courage and belief in the supreme power was amazing.
Personally I am not a big believer of the concept of the saying that Like things attract , so positive thoughts can create positive outcomes and negative thoughts can create negative outcomes.But my friend proved it to me that there is truth in the saying. My friend was in immense pain as she underwent the surgery followed by radiation treatment. But through this pain she could still think of the good things life had given her. She maintained a positive frame of mind all through the treatment.
I am really grateful to have someone like her in my life.
She is a source of inspiration and taught me how one should take what life gives without blaming and saying , why me?
As Bernice Johnson Reagon has rightly said,
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” .
For me my friends illness and her courage throughout the process was certainly an opportunity to discover Life’s Secrets.
Finding the silver lining
Very early in life , my parents had taught me to say a thankyou prayer to God every evening. My mom would make me sit quiet for 10mins in front of the family deity and express my gratitude for all the good things that would have happened during the day.
This would help me tide over any negative emotions, fear or anger that I would feel.More importantly it helped me express my gratitude for even the smallest thing that would have brought a smile to my face during the day.
Somewhere as life gained speed and hit the expressway, all the good habits and nuggets of wisdom were left behind. The daily habit of expressing gratitude was missed.But you don’t understand the importance of good days, until tough times strike. And so it happened with me as well. I went through a bad phase during which time, the only silver lining in the dark cloud was my daily prayer and expressing gratitude to God. It gave me immense strength as I struggled to cope with difficulties. I did not throw in the towel, and crossed all obstacles . At the end of the tough period , there were many lessons to learn.
Sharing some of the lessons that I have learned the hard way
- Keeping a positive mindset during tough times is not easy, but one has to make efforts to do so as it is acts like a stress reliever helping you smile.
- Counting all the good things in life and maintaining a gratitude jar. It gives you a more optimistic outlook on life
- Tough times don’t last, but they help build resilience.
- Just like sweet and salt enhances food flavor, in the same way good and bad times enriches your life experiences.
- Find happiness in small things in life, during tough times, these happy memories motivate you.
