There's ALWAYS A Silver Lining

This is a guest post submitted by a writer who chose to remain anonymous:

I’ve only lived 19 years on this earth, but I feel like I can say I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had interactions with all sorts of people. I’ve had a plethora of experiences—some shared, some individual, some good, and some bad. All things considered, my life is great and I really should have no reason to complain, but, it’s all relative, and recently, it seems as if tragedy has struck more than good fortune. Fortunately, while tragedy continues to hit hard, it’s taught me one valuable lesson: there’s always a silver lining.

Consider this: a close relative of yours passes away. It’s sad, that’s certain. There’s no possible way you can replace them or even recreate any semblance of their existence in your life. You’ll always have the memories, but their actual physical existence no longer remains. So as it goes, family comes in from all over the state, country, even world to celebrate or mourn the life lost. Relatives, friends, neighbors, acquaintances—even people you don’t really know well or people whom you have lost contact with completely—may go out of their way to say something to you or even join you and your family while you mourn. Are you starting to see the silver lining here?

Now, lets explore another situation: your parents get separated. It’s not quite a death, but it sure as hell feels like one. Whether it was expected or not, this tragic occurrence can’t be sugar coated…it sucks. The two people you love unconditionally, look up to, and someday want to be, simply draw apart and distance themselves from one another. This not only separates your family physically, it tears them apart mentally and emotionally. That one sense of solidarity and unity you have in your life suddenly disappears, and you’re expected to live life like nothing’s changed. You and your siblings are crushed, but you’re there for them, physically, mentally and emotionally. You support one another. It’s something you get through together. Even if you leave temporarily, you continue to text, call, and Snapchat them everyday. You start learning things about them that you never had known. You see a side of someone so close to you that you’ve never seen, even after living with them for all those years. A little clearer, isn’t it?

It’s all relative, everything in life. If you’re reading this you have it so much better than most people on this planet. However, it’s understandable that you, just like all of us, have experienced similar life changing and tragic events. A family pet passes; you lose a close friend, whatever it may be, try to look past the sudden shock of sadness. It hits hard, and fast—immediately to be precise. But, I promise there’s some good in all evil.  We may not be fighting to survive everyday, but we are still constantly dealing with our own issues and looking for positives in life. The truth is, there’s always a silver lining, no matter how dire the situation, and your only job is to find it.