One of my favorite books is My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen. There’s a great quote that has stuck with me since I picked up the book years ago – “we’ve been given more blessings than we’ve known how to receive.” Loosely translated, I believe that it means that there’s something of value in every experience. 

At times, I struggle to see the “why” behind the things that happen. Right now, I would love to know why I opened an office – that I painstakingly decorated from my Pinterest vision board – in January 2020 only to start working from home in March 2020. As I now prepare to vacate the office because I’m still working from home, I wonder what the point of all of that was?

I suppose that’s an attempt to find the silver lining during a difficult moment. If there’s some ultimate, greater meaning then the challenge is worth it and, by extension, more tolerable. There’s also a great saying in Spanish – no hay mal que por bien no venga – that, again, speaks to that silver lining. Between now and when the silver lining appears, we have a choice about how to experience the discomfort. Avoid it or lean in, like Sheryl Sandberg said. 

I’d like to avoid it but I really can’t. I have to participate. I need to be present for this transition, as much as I’d like to bury my head in the sand. The movers are coming and I need to let them in. Recently, a friend suggested that I take pictures of my office space before it’s dismantled so that I can reflect on it later on. I guess I can look for the silver lining once the task is completed. I can live with that.

Are there any silver linings you can find now that you have weathered your difficult moments?

(picture credit: Ivy Grey Interiors)