"Take the bad with the good"

Today I am grateful for family and friends. Sure, that goes without saying. But, it's still good to say it, write it, feel it.

Yesterday afternoon after work, I was sitting at our computer and my son Sam was laying on the couch a few feet away. Our dog Oliver jumped up on Sam and started loving him up, as these two like to do. Oliver was licking Sam's face and I said something about "doesn't his breath smell?" Sam said "Yeah, but you have to take the bad with the good."

"Take the bad with the good." Life and living gratefully help me do that, hopefully at least some of the time and with some humble grace too. We can't avoid disappointments, frustrations, losses, challenges, changes.  Energy spent in denial or emotionally stuck becomes wasted energy.

Looking for silver linings, lessons learned, progress made all help pull the benefits out of what felt nothing like beneficial at the time.

Some friends and I were in a conversation last night about the idea of acceptance, which fits quite nicely with "Take the bad with the good." It was a pleasant and insightful conversation we shared.

Living gratefully and practicing acceptance don't breed complacency and apathy, as some critics would say. It doesn't make it okay that difficult things happen, that there's inequality and unfairness. It does the opposite. Instead of pulling our energy into an abyss, going nowhere, it builds energy that we can use to make a real difference with our actions and interactions with others.

Those actions and interactions help address tough situations, make connections where there was isolation, bring people to the same table to talk about solutions.

"Take the bad with the good."  Thanks for the wisdom and writing inspiration Sam!

See you next week. I will be taking a blog break for a few days. Onward!

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