If you have encountered a devastating setback, and wondered “why me?”, along with an accompanying feeling of being isolated, at least take heart in the fact that you are NOT alone in such an experience.  We’ve all encountered this.  But instead of wallowing in an emotional abyss, cancel your “pity-parade” and start looking.  For what, you may ask?

Start looking for “the silver lining” in your dark clouds.  It is ALWAYS there, and often there are MANY of them, but you’ve got to LOOK FOR IT.  And don’t be alarmed or frustrated if you don’t see it right away.  In fact, your misfortune may have temporarily blinded you to it.  But hang in there, for if you search with a mindset that it exists, it will eventually materialize, and often with profound clarity.  But don’t give yourself a flat-forehead for not seeing it sooner — just rejoice in your epiphany.

Not let’s cover this from three perspectives: (1) the sage aphorisms of Maya Angelou; (2) the underlying themes of Silver Linings Playbook; and (3) the lyrical candor of the Swedish sisters of First Aid Kit.

Maya Angelou

The poet, author, activist and renaissance woman, Maya Angelou has many aphorisms attributed to her that are especially germane to this topic, and are reflected below.  They collectively encourage you to overcome your defeats, learn from them and acquiesce to your transformation into something greater so that you may eventually help others overcome their “rainy days”.

Silver Linings Playbook

Now let’s take the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, a cinematic tour de force, based on the book by Matthew Quick, which really delivers on the core element of overcoming adversity.  It is a touching love story about two seemingly lost souls, who serendipitously find each other, and despite an awkward and unexpected journey together, eventually help one another out of their respective doldrums that have bordered on depression in the past, albeit for entirely different reasons.  He (“Patrick” played by Bradley Cooper) suffers from a bi-polar disorder and is despondent over his wife’s estrangement, while she (“Tiffany” played by Jennifer Lawrence) has encountered profound difficulty in coping with the emotional loss of her husband’s death and adapting to life as a young widow.  The below movie trailer summarizes this well, and the two quotes that follow are relevant and especially poignant.

First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit is the name of a Swedish folk duo, comprised of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg.  Their music video rendition of My Silver Lining is presented below, and is followed by the lyrics to this song.  While there may appear to be some conflicting messages (“I don’t want to wait anymore, I’m tired of looking for answers” and “There’s no starting over, no new beginnings”) the interpretational gist of this song is nevertheless consistent with the themes of this blog post.  For instance . . .

• “Regret, remorse, hold on, oh no I’ve got to go”  — i.e., Don’t let your past mistakes weigh you down
• “Gotta keep on going, looking straight out on the road” — i.e., Stay focused on where you want to go
• “Can’t worry ’bout what’s behind you or what’s coming for you further up the road” — i.e., Don’t dwell in the past and fear not the unknown future
• “I try not to hold on to what is gone”  — i.e., you can’t change the past, you can only learn from it
• “I try to keep on keeping on” — i.e., stay the course
• “These shackles I’ve made in an attempt to be free . . . I won’t take the easy road” — i.e., stay true to what you’ve committed to do even if it is fraught with many challenges
• “Something good comes with the bad . . . There’s hope, there’s a silver lining” — This is self-explanatory and if you can remember only one thing from this blog post . . . THIS IS IT !

My Silver Lining

I don’t want to wait anymore I’m tired of looking for answers
Take me some place where there’s music and there’s laughter
I don’t know if I’m scared of dying but I’m scared of living too fast, too slow
Regret, remorse, hold on, oh no I’ve got to go
There’s no starting over, no new beginnings, time races on
And you’ve just gotta keep on keeping on
Gotta keep on going, looking straight out on the road
Can’t worry ’bout what’s behind you or what’s coming for you further up the road
I try not to hold on to what is gone, I try to do right what is wrong
I try to keep on keeping on
Yeah I just keep on keeping on

I hear a voice calling
Calling out for me
These shackles I’ve made in an attempt to be free
Be it for reason, be it for love
I won’t take the easy road

I’ve woken up in a hotel room, my worries as big as the moon
Having no idea who or what or where I am
Something good comes with the bad
A song’s never just sad
There’s hope, there’s a silver lining
Show me my silver lining
Show me my silver lining

I hear a voice calling
Calling out for me
These shackles I’ve made in an attempt to be free
Be it for reason, be it for love
I won’t take the easy road

I won’t take the easy road
The easy road, the easy road

Show me my silver lining, I try to keep on keeping on
Show me my silver lining, I try to keep on keeping on
Show me my silver lining, I try to keep on keeping on
Show me my silver lining, I try to keep on keeping on