“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
- Albert Einstein
For as long as I can remember I have never been the up-beat, positive person that always wears a smile on my face. There was a long period of my life that I wished that I was that way. Now that I have grown up (in my eyes anyway :)), I have realized that I don’t want or need to change the way that I am. In my opinion, there are optimistic and pessimistic people out there for a reason. That reason is, of course, to balance the world out.
I would say that my life is pretty well balanced. I have a person that is the yin to my yang, so-to-speak. From the inception of our friendship, this person has made me happier and more positive just by being around. In no way do I want that statement to be construed as some sort of co-dependence, because it is not. There are healthy ways to rely on others and grow as a person due to their influence. For me, learning that was a long, drawn out process as well.
So, with the impact of this person in my life, I have learned (and am still learning) that there is a reason to smile in every situation. A long time ago, I would have laughed about that statement for sure. While I am uplifted by our relationship, I think that this person is also somewhat grounded by me, at least I’d like to think so. My realism may clash with my friend's idealism at times, but it’s important to note that with any collision, there will always be residual fragments from each side left on the other side.
In writing this, I felt it important for me to express my challenge of finding the silver lining in my cloud. At times (more often than not), it has been hard for me to find that lining.
I often feel that there is no hope, or that I am sinking a little more each day.
The fear that certain things are irreparable can be suffocating. Yet, in these times I have clung to something that I feel is important: everything in life has had to have been learned, so there is no reason that new, more positive behaviors, morals, ideals, or attitudes cannot still be learned.
As I am sure everyone has heard, “Everything happens for a reason." But how many of us truly feel that way? When a person is really down and out, the first reaction is probably, “Why is this happening?” or “What did I do to deserve this?”
And that’s just the point: you didn’t do ANYTHING.
There are good things and there are bad things that happen to us, and whether they happen for a reason or not, it is still true that we DO grow from these situations in some way.
I guess that's my silver lining.
So whether you have an awesome positive person to help support you and keep you out of your negative bubble, or if you’re going it alone, just remember one thing -- every single day you wake up and face the world, despite your obstacles, is another day conquered. This leaves you standing on two feet, looking up at your silver lining.
