The GOOD in the bad

Bad things happen. That’s it, no way around it. Aspiration for a world all singing with joy and dance is unrealistic. In fact, anyone that is promising such wonders is trying to sell you something, something that, in the best-case scenario won’t help, and in the more likely worst-case scenario will make things worse. Life is about seeing “the bad”, reframing it as “a challenge”, overcoming the challenge, and being strong enough to overcome the challenges that will follow.

When our thoughts are shuffled and we can’t find a solution to the problem we have, it is an opportunity to stop and learn a new way to think and a new strategy to plan out and put into place. When our emotions are burdensome, it is an opportunity to change our focus and actively search for and appreciate the things in our life that lift us up.

When our body is suffering, it is an opportunity to acknowledge what we’ve deprived our body of and what actions we can take to cure it. When our body persists and there is no cure to our ills, it is an opportunity to make amends with our mortality and make peace with the loved ones in our lives.

When we are betrayed by people we trusted, it is an opportunity to assess what values brought us close to them then and what values will guide better people to us now. When we mourn people we loved and lost, it is an opportunity to reminisce and appreciate how these people enriched our lives – so many have not had the opportunity to meet the wonderful people we knew, but we did and we got to share experiences, ideas, and love and that is a good, even a wonderful, thing.

Not all challenges have a happy ending, the “good” isn’t necessarily a solution to the challenge at hand. But GOOD is good. GOOD is the light of hope that guides us through the darkness of our challenges and struggles in life.