Finding the Upside
“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”
I’ve adopted this phrase as my motto.
Growing up, I watched my family members deal with a bad situation after a bad situation on those days where nothing went right. Through whole events, many of my relatives’ attitudes would just go from bad to worse. If one thing went wrong or had a remotely negative effect on an experience, everything was suddenly the worst thing they’d ever experienced. Many a restaurant has received the vow “to never return” as customers.
Bad things happen.
Until the Lord comes, they always will. But a change in attitude can make all the difference. We don’t have to adopt this defeatist mentality and believe every good thing will always end badly. If we realize that most problems in life are temporary, we can push past them. Most of the little problems we face day in and day out won’t matter in five years. So why do we let them bother us so much now?
Sometimes bad things happen to allow something good to follow.
Not all problems are so trivial. I get that. The heavier, more discouraging problems tend to bring us down a lot deeper than we wanted to go and then we overstay the pity party that follows after. It feels like it’s the end of the world, but it doesn’t have to be—not for forever.
So, what do you do?
What if you forget a paper is due until the day of? Push past it and make it better than it would’ve been if you had rushed it. What if you get fired from your job? Push past it and find one that you can benefit more mutually from. What if you find yourself unexpectedly single? Push past it and use the opportunity to find good, godly friends to encourage you in the Lord.
Don’t let the Debby-downers of the world cause wallowing.
More often than not, there's an upside to any situation. It could be because the situation is temporary and will be over soon, or because it’s necessary to prepare you or set you up for something else in your life years down the road.
Find encouragement in God in the bad times of your life. You can use them to allow God to mold and prepare you, or you can let them make you cold and cynical over time.
It’s your choice.
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