I’ve been given a gift for over thirty-five years but I only just realized it this past weekend.

Times are tough for many people. There are a load of sad songs being sung and I’d venture to bet that almost anyone could tell you a sob story about personal hardship they’ve experienced this past year alone. Life is far from perfect. And unfortunately, justice isn’t always part of the equation. But some people actually have it incredibly hard, like those in any holocaust or soldiers in battle, while most others only think they do.

Several months ago, a friend of mine told me that I don’t let people just feel bad about things. I always have to try to find the silver lining, she said. And I was thinking, “Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?” She was, saying it like she wished I was otherwise.

And then a few days ago, a friend of mine was feeling sorry for himself. Yes, he’s going through a very tough time, and it sucks, but I couldn’t listen to it. I mean, he’s not being put to death in a gas chamber or anything. Yeah, he might have to do a ton of hard work, and probably a lot of it isn’t going to make him thrilled, but I think unless you’re one of those who gets everything handed to them on a silver platter, and life is always fair to you, my advice is get off your ass and do something about which you’re complaining. And I mean truly do something, 100% percent, from dawn to dusk.

After I ranted, I realized how fortunate I’ve been because of a gift my parents bestowed upon me all the years of my life. It’s not a gift money could buy. Or a gift one could wrap with paper and a nice bow. It’s a gift one has to see demonstrated before their very own eyes. It’s a gift one has to learn.

It’s the gift of understanding how to accept one’s life as their own and be responsible for it.

This doesn’t mean life is fair by the way. It isn’t. Some are born into riches, others into poverty. But this gift can be applied to either situation.

I choose to look for the silver linings in life. I choose to see the glass as being half full. I choose to believe positive energy begets the same because as Camus once said, “Life is a sum of all your choices.”