Finding Silver Linings in 2015

The beginning of 2015 has sucked. Sucked as in, I really need a do-over. Or a a restart. Or something. I ended 2014 with the worst flu of my entire life. I’m not being dramatic. In fact, describing it as the worst flu of my life is really an under-exaggeration. (I didn’t want to worry you.)

Oh and the HOTY (Husband Of The Year) was out of f-bomb town!  On the heels of that (literally 15 minutes after my fever broke and I could swallow without it feeling like razor blades in my throat), one of my best friend’s husband died. Just died. In the morning, he was fine and by the afternoon, a heart attack had taken him from his family, friends and community. F-bomb. F-Bomb. F-bomb.

I felt like I had literally been run over by a truck.  I couldn’t stop crying. I felt numb. And exhausted. And irritable. And anxious. And lonely. And, of course, sad.

But you know what?  It was my friend – whose husband had just died – who looked for Silver Linings. Seriously, I about fell on the floor when she said, “Well, a Silver Lining was…”

Now that I have stopped coughing up a lung and my girlfriend is beginning to settle into her new f-bomb reality, I find myself thinking about the fact that we are nearly 1/2 way into the first month of 2015.

In January’s past, I have made resolutions such as reading more books, taking more yoga classes, and making more homemade dinners. But lets be honest… sometimes life gets in the way and many resolutions become history by the month of March (if not before!). Maybe not for you, but for me this seems to be the case.

This year – thanks to the catastrophes that have kicked off the year – I am changing things up a bit. Instead of making a resolution that is physically achieved, I want to make a resolution that further challenges and inspires my perspective and, most importantly, won’t dwindle away after a few months into the year.

So, here is what I’m thinking:  I am resolving to choose to find more Silver Linings in the year 2015 than ever before! I know that this is definitely a doable task for me and yet will continue to challenge me.

My experience with f-bomb breast cancer – and really every challenge that I face – has shown me the importance of finding Silver Linings in the darkest seasons of life.  Sometimes it seems like there could be no possible way that a Silver Lining exists in certain situations, but (believe me!) they do. I promise!

Now, remember:  they don’t take away the pain of a situation (e.g., diagnosis, death…), but they provide the balance, perspective and hope to get through…sometimes from one moment to the next.  This, my friends, is the essence of Silver Linings.

So please, join me in choosing to find Silver Linings in this New Year!

Here are a few ways to start:

Express gratitude for what you DO have in this moment
Smile often
Be playful. Put a bounce in your emotional step
Take breaks from technology
Express love, even to strangers
Sleep
Look at challenges as opportunities to learn and grow
Eat healthy, but treat yourself
Focus on the present
Exercise
Be open to change
Do what makes you happy
Simplify
Decide that no matter what you WILL find a Silver Lining

In what ways do you choose to find Silver Linings?

The post Finding Silver Linings in 2015 appeared first on The Silver Pen.