[This post is a call back to Week #24 — which honors and remembers Gregory Pellinger, a Hopatcong High School student who lost his life in a motor vehicle accident five years ago in 2015.]

Week #285 – Keeping it “Shiny side up!”

I had someone ask me this week how I stay so positive.

My answer is…I don’t.

I’ve been through enough to know that bad things happen. Period. Doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or a bad person. So if a day is a pretty good day…then it sure makes sense to make the most of it, because the shit may hit the fan tomorrow (and I’ll wish I had today’s worries back instead!).

“Keep it shiny side up.” 

My brother, Rob, taught me to ride a motorcycle.  He was a great teacher and a very careful rider: never sloppy, cocky, or reckless.  He knew full well the dangers associated with riding…and he always said to me in a somewhat serious tone whenever we’d head out: “Keep it shiny side up, Grace.”

As so it is with life.  There are two sides to every event.  There is the dark side, the gritty and very real underside, the side where the rubber meets the road.  But there is a shiny side, too.  The upside.  The majestic and beautiful side.

In the wake of bad news — I find myself watching for the outpouring of love and support (and leadership) that inevitably follows. The leadership I witness — whether it be students, teachers, friends, family, or community — is always the shiny side of an event.  

While one family mourns…many move in to help.  While friends struggle to understand…others show strength.  While a town comes to its knees in grief…a community carries it through.

I know this to be true myself.  I’m reminded regularly of what it meant to me and my family to have an entire town stand with us when the unthinkable, the unbearable, and the still unbelievable happened.

And I know full well what it might mean to other families in the wake of a loss or shock of bad news.

“Keep it shiny side up” acknowledges the darkness…but insists on the light.

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: When faced with a situation or event that seems negative, bleak, or dire — make a conscious effort to find the shiny side, as well.  Is there an opportunity for strength, for a challenge, for organization, for leadership, for a fresh idea, or for something only you can uniquely offer? Be part of the solution…and “keep it shiny side up.”

Is a bad situation calling YOU to shine your brightest this week?

Spread Happyness — and share your thoughts in the comments!

2/28/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com