Just a reminder today to always wait for the silver lining. Sometimes bad stuff happens – especially when you are in business. There are screw-ups, clients who don’t pay, power outages and stresses that leave us with that throbbing ache in the back of the neck. Some days I wish I had become a fish-gut scraper, rather than a VA.

But this week I had a personal reminder that sometimes bad stuff happens to teach us a lesson, or turn us in a better direction. The universe steps in with something that might seem bad…but ultimately turns out to be good.

A few weeks back I ordered a book for someone on my Christmas list. I paid online in full, and then never heard anything about it. No confirmation, no shipping info, no response. I contacted the seller and again, didn’t hear anything back. My reaction was to get stressed. To worry that I had lost money, to worry I would never receive the book, to be stuck with no gift for this person on my list. It bothered me for days and days. A little black cloud over my happy little life.

Today I found the silver lining. The author of the book contacted me directly and apologized for overlooking the sale. In fact, they agreed to ship the book to me immediately without charging for shipping AND they agreed to sign the book with a personal message of my choice. My little black cloud was suddenly lined with silver.

Sometimes we just need a little reminder that when seemingly bad stuff happens…it is often for a reason. Perhaps you lost that client to make space for an even better one…or you made the big mistake to learn an important lesson. Don’t let the little things stress you out. Think of them as helpful nudges from the universe, and always wait patiently for the silver lining.