Finding a Silver Lining In a Dark Moment

You never know when the seemingly devastating moments in your life will somehow lead you to something good and positive. Some pundit said that even the worst of times have a silver lining. I never really believed that. I just believed that when life got bumpy, I should just take life one day at a time until I regained a measure of control over the situation.

Last January 3rd, I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled my Hyundai Accent. I really liked driving that car. Although it was almost 12 years old, it had only about 132,000 miles and still drove reasonably well. But it was damaged beyond repair. But I was very lucky. I walked away from the accident with only a few bruises. Nevertheless, that experience really shook me up and it took the better part of two months to get past the mental bruising I experienced.

It is almost April now. I have moved on and am back working again. What I have discovered is that I am actually better off without that car. I have learned how to use the public transportation system to get to and from work. It really isn't all that bad a thing. The best part of taking the bus is that I have to walk about half a mile to get to the bus and another half a mile when I get to the bus stop nearest my work. By the time I get to the office, I feel good and awake and ready for the day to begin. In a million years, I could not have foreseen that outcome to a truly unnerving auto accident and that the experience would take me to a realization that there is a viable alternative to driving to work in my car.

Even better is that I have time to read a book commuting to and from work. I had been so busy before the accident that I never had time to do that. So I am able to indulge myself in an unexpected pleasurable activity by taking the bus a couple of days a week.

I guess the simple fact is that life has its ups and downs. Even when we are suffering "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," there is probably going to be an up side to whatever it is that is happening to us. As I have discovered, we need to just give things some time and that silver lining will eventually reveal itself to us. We just have to have a little patience. As Americans, that may be a little trying, because we are not a particularly patient people. We want what we want and we want it "NOW!" Maybe we have to just unlearn some very unproductive attitudes and habits and to simply turn over a new leaf in our life.