My friend from Germany sent us a package intended for the holidays. Because the USPS was so overloaded this season, we just received the package last weekend. It was a great way to cheer us up in the middle of some of the hardest weather days of winter!
One of the amazing gifts my child received was a photo book that my friend put together of the time she and her daughter visited us in 2019. My child immediately started flipping through the book, sharing what he remembered of that time.
At one point, my child pointed to a group of pictures and said, “this was my absolute favorite day in my life so far.” My husband and I listened as he recounted the whole day. When he finished, my husband asked, “wasn’t that also the day you had that bike accident on the gravel road?” My child confirmed that, yes, that accident happened that day too. My husband asked, “how can that be your best day ever when that accident happened too?”
After thinking on that for a few seconds, my child made the observation that he felt that it was BECAUSE of the bike accident that the day turned out so great.
Why?
When he was hurt, he worried that a bunch of people would surround and coddle him, which he hates. Instead, his cousin showed up and didn’t seem to even notice. In fact, once the focus could shift to the cousins being together, my child could focus on all the fun things that were happening that day!
It’s really interested how we can have days that are such a mixed bag of joys and sorrows. There’s that saying that “every cloud has a silver lining.” I'd like to add that “every cloud has a silver lining if we are free enough to see it.”
That day could have been interpreted completely differently. The bike accident could have overshadowed anything else that happened, turning it into the worst day ever. Fortunately, my kid was open to seeing the possibilities for that day and created a wonderful memory for himself.
He saw the silver lining!
In this episode of Growing in Uncertainty, I share how to stay open with how we interpret our life experiences and to create space for new ways of remembering. I promise, it’s not about putting a “positive spin” on everything. Instead, we’re going to go deeper with our experiences and see what else we can learn about ourselves and others.