I’m someone who has been disabled all my life having cerebral palsy and being an amputee in a wheelchair. You’d think that with everything I have been dealt with, I would be disappointed in things not working out. However, I chose to find a silver lining in all of this. Even though I am disabled, I am still beyond grateful for all I have. I have a roof over my head, family and friends that love me, jobs that I am passionate about, and a life that may be hard at times but it’s mine. And I choose to see the silver lining in it. Is it perfect? Of course not. But some people aren’t as lucky as me and have it a lot worse.
Life is full of various twists and turns.
However, there is just as much weight in the situation as there is in how we react to it. Disappointment tends to set in when the things we were looking forward to do doesn’t go the way we planned. These may be personal goals, a career achievement or a relationship. Sometimes when a silver lining is hard to see, it might simply be in the fact that things didn’t work out. This, in turn, allows you to see new perspectives. View the circumstances as lessons, a chance for you to take matters into your own hands and take your own silver lining.
When we are disappointed, we tend to take on a negative point of view. Instead, try spinning it and making it into a positive experience.
One big example of this is an experience I had a couple of years ago with a small group that I founded and currently run.
The group was created to help families and individuals in need. We had decided on doing a cookbook fundraiser for the local high school drama club. What was supposed to be a 3-month project turned into a 6-year project. It was incredibly hard to find that silver lining, and I constantly kept getting disappointed that it didn’t go as planned. However, in the end, everything worked out. After an extensive amount of time, we were able to host our fundraiser. We managed to help the high school, and turn our luck around. We were finally able to get the cookbook printed and sold in order to raise money for this drama club.
There could be many reasons as to why something didn’t work out. The timing could have been wrong or there could have been a lack of resources or urgency from others. Instead of seeing what went wrong, entertain the idea of what other alternatives can be seen. Use the free time you now have to try something a different way. Even in the worst moments of life, there is a silver lining to be found. You just need to allow yourself the chance to see it. Sometimes you will see it when you least expect it. That’s the beauty of a silver lining – you never know when you will discover it, or what it will teach you.
Bad things happen and things don’t always go our way, and that’s okay. However, how we react to the problems is what matters the most. Finding the silver lining in any situation can be hard but not impossible. I know that in today’s world that we live in, it seems impossible to see the silver lining. But remember it’s not.
I think if more people practiced finding or creating a silver lining, they would view their lives in a different light.
Different aspects of their lives would improve because of their new leases on life. It only takes one bad thing to get us in a bad mindset, but always remember that all of us have bad days. None of us have bad lives – we just need to find the good in the bad days and grow and learn from it. We have to take what we can from those bad days and see the silver lining for what it is – a glimpse of hope when we need it the most.
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Originally written by Larissa Martin
Unwritten is a family of writers who come together to share their stories. Whether you need a shoulder to cry on, a laugh to keep you going, or a place to keep you entertained, Unwritten is that best friend who is always there for you. As young adults, we get ourselves into a lot of messy situations, so our mission is to help you turn your messes into messages because if you can learn from your messes, so can others. Read more of our musings at www.readunwritten.com.
