Finding Silver Linings when Times are Tough

Sheesh. There’s a lot of bad stuff happening in the world.

Earth’s a pretty big place, and most of the bad stuff is happening to other folks, or somewhere else, or sometime in the future. That’s just math—we can only experience so much at once.

Still, pick a day and pick a human, and odds are they’re going through something.

Here’s my version from the last 24 hours:

🥱 Woke up and we were out of coffee.

💸 Lender for the house we’re hoping to close on let us know we weren’t approved for the full loan amount.

🪾 A tree fell near our current house and the chainsawing to clear the road woke up the kids.

And yet…

Silver linings:

☺️ Impromptu coffee date with my daughter (pictured below).

📈 Sold some stock at a near high, which means we will have a slightly lower monthly payment.

🚶🏼 (This one’s a stretch) Got to have a genuinely thankful conversation with the guy who cleared the street—he does a lot for our block without ever being asked.

It’s all a mindset shift. A choice. You don’t always get to pick what happens, but you do get to pick how you respond to it.

To drive the point home, here are a few silver linings from King of Pops over the years:

1️⃣ I got laid off during the Great Recession ➡️ Started King of Pops with my brother and built something I love.

2️⃣ Couldn’t afford a grease trap to open in our dream spot ➡️ Went with pushcarts instead, which helped us grow faster and stand out.

3️⃣ COVID wiped out our large event business ➡️ We started franchising to stay afloat—and it took off.

There’s something good hiding in the mess. Sometimes small. Sometimes huge. But it’s always there.