Talane’s Blog of the Week, June 5, 2006

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan in life, in big ways and small. In fact, it is probably fair to say that most of the time things don’t go according to plan. This is actually a good thing because things can turn out better, even when at first it may seem to be “bad news.” One client recently discovered she has lead poisoning, with no idea how it got into her body. She is undergoing a detox program and, while one wouldn’t wish lead poisoning on anyone, she now knows why she may have had trouble conceiving, and she has the solution. So what looks like bad news, is, oddly enough, good news. She now has the knowledge and the tools to clean up her body and increase her chances of having a baby.

On a more mundane level, my husband and I submitted our plans to build above the garage and were delighted to learn that we had gotten approval to proceed. But we hit a snag when we discovered our foundation wasn’t strong enough. Plans nixed overnight. We went back to the drawing board and came up with a completely different solution, which will save us a significant amount of money. What at first appeared bad was actually good news, as it forced us to think of an alternative. Since bad news often ends up being good news down the road, it doesn’t make much sense to get terribly upset about it. Okay, it is perfectly natural to be disappointed, but that ends up being a big waste of energy. The appropriate response might actually be jubilation.

What if you just took all the bad news in stride and didn’t waste your time or energy being unhappy, but instead starting thinking of what the good news might be down the road? In other words, ask yourself, how is this a good thing?

Not easy in the moment, but certainly an enlightened way of looking at life.

Warmest,
Talane