Do You Always Reach for the Silver Lining?

The online Cambridge Dictionary defines silver lining as an advantage that comes from a difficult or unpleasant situation. The online Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes in its definition of the bottom line as the primary or most important consideration.

I generally see the bottom line as the first thing you hear when the facts are real like, "I'm sorry, but the man who hit your car didn't have insurance." I see the silver lining as a hopeful positive commentary despite the facts like, "Well, at least you have money to fix your car." Sometimes, always reaching for the silver lining is challenging. The sister phrase is "be positive."

Rainbows are sometimes looked at as a silver lining after the storm.

Let's say your car breaks down on the way to work. While this would initially present itself as a problem, it's a solvable circumstance in most cases. The bottom line would be any out-of-pocket cost. The silver lining is that the car has the possibility of being repaired and nobody got hurt (even though your feelings are upset because of the cost factor).

Actions that lift those silver linings

When we do things in life that have a good result, we not only feel good about ourselves, but our responses also influence the behavior around us. This is why it's important to carry an awareness of all our actions and motivations - everything we say and do.

With all the things that make up life, always be aware of all the smaller things that make it more full. When we question the state of happiness, think of all the small things that make it better such as hearing common courtesies or returning friendly smiles. If you look unhappy all the time, nobody will want to be around you. Gravitate towards things in life that make living good. That helps in pumping up the value of silver linings.

Think up, not down! When a child is born and begins to mature, everything is noticed and observed until the infant becomes aware of all these details in its environment. As an adult, those details come to be overlooked or neglected. Just as all the smaller details compose larger details of life, people are also composed of details. If we see an adult who tells lies, that could lead to larger lies - that's why the smaller ones shouldn't go unnoticed.

We remain unaware of all the smaller things that led to larger things such as additional facts which led to scientific discoveries, technological advances, and improvements upon devices we use daily such as our cell phones, televisions, cameras, and the way we listen to music. Imagine the discoveries, historically, that began by smaller events.

The keen and careful observer in life will know even those insignificant things have some kind of value. A successful artist discerns details. A successful businessman has to observe the small details of behavior, gestures, and actions. As people mature, they collect large amounts of bits and pieces of factual information.

It's the little things that make a big difference. Think about the details that make a person's character and the list is endless - love, influence, integrity, self-reliance, temperance, pride, patience, gratitude, and kindness.

A bottom line is also the hard work you put in to achieve that silver lining.

Balancing the bottom line with a silver lining

One circumstance points to two factors. The first is a bottom line and the second is the silver lining and both can create a balance. If a silver lining includes success and happiness, the bottom line is the hard work it's going to take to attain and nurture both.

We live in a country rich with a freedom that we sometimes take for granted, especially being so far distanced from problems unfolding in other countries. We live in a society that sets the standards, another detail we overlook when we sit around and complain, and never leave our sofas to become proactive towards making a change - that's a bottom line.

Our legal system dictates what's right or wrong. Our religious sects try to persuade their members what is right or wrong, or good or evil. In the United States, we have the freedom to think independently, the freedom to choose a belief system, and the freedom to pursue goals - that's a silver lining that we sometimes take for granted.

The bottom line regarding societal changes

People who sit around and complain about a generation that is full of disrespect, or who talk incessantly about the moral decline of a generation aren't accomplishing much if it's talk that leads nowhere.

Strong morals begin with good parenting. The changes in the world can only begin with those who decide to participate in making a difference by being a small part of that change, a small part in changing a direction, or a small part in something good that can only lead to something that is better.

The bottom line is the fact that unless there is action, there are no effects. The silver lining is that anything is possible. Nobody will ever know, though, if there's never any action.

© Cathy Coombs