Sometimes life hits hard. Circumstances can take a downturn. Frustrations may seem overwhelming. People may be cruel and hurtful. How do we handle the disappointments and devastations? Is it possible to birth something hopeful, when all we can see is our pain?

Being positive doesn’t mean we ignore the pain, but it does mean after we grieve the loss, we ask the question, “How can I grow or learn or make something good come out of this?”

Helen Keller showed us what it looks like to overcome the negatives. Born in 1880, a severe illness left her unable to see or hear. Yet through the patient and persistent instruction of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to read, write and speak. She didn’t stop there! She went on to study French and Greek at Radcliffe College. At the age of 26, she published her life story and became a well-known public figure and humanitarian, speaking in over twenty-five countries throughout the world. Her life and story has inspired countless millions to turn life’s challenges into possibilities.

She wrote, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Certainly her incredible accomplishments epitomize human potential in the face of adversity.

It’s not what happens to us that define us, it’s what we do with it that matters. Let’s be willing to change our focus. Let’s be creative and look for ways to make the best out of the worst. May each of us find hope in unlikely places.

Read more in The Power of a Positive Woman.

Photo by Sara Kauten on Unsplash