Perhaps not all clouds have silver linings, but many of them do. If you look closely, you will find that things you had considered to be terrible when they occurred later proved to be to your advantage. One may lose a housekeeper of many years, a secretary, or any other employee, and feel that the bottom has dropped out. How can I ever replace her? Then one finds that the replacement is four times as efficient! How often has it happened that someone who thought that his world had come to an end when he lost his job got a much better one? Sure, we would rather have blessings that are not in disguise. However, if we will only bear in mind that some previous “calamities” were indeed blessings in disguise, some hardships can be borne with less suffering.

One recovering alcoholic said, “I began to see a pattern in my life. When bad things happened, they were most often a prelude to something good. Now when something bad happens, I am excited and eager to see what good is going to occur.”

The comic strip character “Ziggy” is always the victim of bad things happening to him. Yet even Ziggy can find some consolation in some of the bad things.

What can be worse than pain?