I’m acutely aware of a theme here… we have a nasty habit of complaining!  When times are good, we complain, when times are tough, we complain, when something is red and we wish it were blue, we complain, when it’s cold here in New England, we complain and then the minute it gets a bit hot and humid, we complain again!   Yikes!  Look around you.  Aren’t there more important things to focus on than the weather?  Don’t you have dozens of things for which you are grateful?  Aren’t some things just perfect.  Even those things that don’t look perfect at first, turn out to be exactly right.  For example, I have a friend who was laid off from her Senior Management job in March.  She immediately started a job search.  She was one of 2 finalists for a position she thought would be perfect for her.  But she didn’t get the job.  She was very disappointed.  Then, 2 weeks after getting that news, her eldest son was diagnosed with a serious illness.  She spent the following months researching, finding and visiting doctors, supporting her son, handling all of the details of his illness and his treatment.  She now, totally believes that her not getting that job was perfect.  She could not have been successful at it and handle all of the issues around her son’s illness. 

Even in what appears to be your darkest moments, your greatest disappointments, your biggest setbacks, there are reasons, lessons and value to be mined.  Look for them.  It may not become apparent right away…but there’s almost always a pony in there somewhere!