Here's a simple key to finding value in negatives.
This morning it is raining.

When you're a little child, and you wake up to a rainy morning, you might complain and cry, especially if a special trip or event has been planned. All your attention and energy could go into being upset that the sun is not shining.

But an adult hardly sees rain at all. If something is planned and it rains, you just go on with it and maybe get wet. Or you change your plans and do something else, knowing that the sun will shine again one day for your activity. At any rate, you do not cry.

There is value in rain. It is necessary. You may even come to welcome rainy days (as I do), enjoying the darkness and quiet, slowing down, staying inside. Just so, there is value in other "negatives" we experience. We may as well expect them to come from time to time and to change our pace or our way of thinking.

In the course of your day, do you meet with anxiety, or anger, or frustration? Let it be like rain. It's neither good nor bad, it just "is" and it does not require your attention and energy.

Learn to enjoy all the events and circumstances of your life, both positive and negative, and to use your energy, not to complain and cry, but to carry you successfully through them. You may even learn to sing and dance...in the rain.

About the Author

Glenda Ball holds a "doctorate" from The University of Hard Knocks, with concentration in being a successful single mom.