Learn to See the Silver Lining

Quick Win

Here are some ways to train your mind to see the good in bad situations.

Try This Today

• Shift your focus. Don’t think of yourself as being stuck in a traffic jam. Instead, consider it an opportunity to listen to your favorite podcast. See that hole in your favorite sock? View it as a chance to practice your darning skills. When you turn roadblocks into detours, the world is full of silver linings.
• Do a negativity detox. Can you go complaint-free for a whole day? Or stop complaining to your spouse? When you catch yourself ready to break your rule, turn the complaint into a silver lining. Instead of “Why does this dishwasher never work properly?” try, “This is my opportunity to shop around for a new dishwasher, which I’ve been wanting for a while.”
• Keep a gratitude journal. Our mind often focuses on negative experiences, so a daily gratitude journal is a great way to see the positive. Remembering what you have can make your life feel more satisfying.

Why

Hard times can help us appreciate the positive parts of our lives. When you view a bad experience as an opportunity to learn and grow, you immediately see the silver lining. In the GeneSTAR study at Johns Hopkins Medicine, researchers recruited siblings of people who had had a coronary event. Nearly 1,500 siblings were followed for ​five​ to 25 years. Those with a great sense of well-being or positive attitude had a lower risk of cardiovascular events, researchers reported in 2013 in the American Journal of Cardiology. Another study, reported in 2022 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found among 719 people ages 25-70 living in the same area, those with a positive outlook had less hypertension and healthier plasma lipid levels.