Looking on the bright side

 If we have a choice of where we can look, why not look on the bright side?

This question was pressed to my hear today as I was reckoning with some current stressors. It was a stout reminder than yes, we do have a choice, and it is not always readily available but it is there once you make it through the muck and mire. 

Looking on the bright side isn't about denying the dark side, on the contrary actually. Looking on the bright side is a simple reminder that in whatever we are going through, lets for the sake of conversation say it is "bad", within that, "good" also exists and sometimes we can get a taste of it which helps rebalance the scales. The goal is to not always look on the bright side, rather, look at both sides honestly and with courage. When we can sit in the darkness of our thoughts and critically but lovingly analyze, we slowly start to gain perspective and see what good is available on the other side. After this reckoning, we come back to neutrality.

This statement makes one thing clear to me and it poses a follow up question once we choose to look on the bright side which is, "what good is to come from this?" Asking such a question immediately makes perspective inevitable which is obviously valuable in helping us move forward, correct our intellect, and act in a different more generally good way. Depending on the situation, asking "what good is to come from this", may seem ridiculous or hard to even imagine such as loosing a loved one...nothing good really comes from that, at least initially. For some, after loosing a loved one, they use that for good and start changing their own lifestyle behaviors or being kinder to the natural world, all these outcomes are possible and occur all the time! This all simply is a matter of cultivating the ability to live in the darkness and light at the same time.

Wherever you are, whatever you are feeling, keep going, stay courageous and persistent through the process of deepening your understanding of what is and what good can come from it.