Bottom Lines and Silver Linings

If people stop and think about it, everything in life seems to have a bottom line as well as a silver lining. A small example would be if a car breaks down on the way to work. While this may present itself as a problem, in reality it is a solvable circumstance. The bottom line would be that it is not a life or death related incident if the driver is still walking, and the silver lining is that the car has the possibility of being repaired.

When we do things in life that have good end results, we not only feel good about ourselves, we also affect the behavior of those with whom we interact. This is why it’s important to always carry an awareness of our actions and motivations.

With all the things that comprise life, we should be aware of all the smaller things that make it more full right down to every single word that builds a sentence in a conversation. When we question the state of happiness, think of all the smaller things that make it better such as a handwritten letter with the closing of “best regards,” common courtesies such as “please” and “thank you,” and a friendly smile. When you don’t smile, you could be perceived as being unfriendly or aloof, and if you look unhappy all the time, nobody will want to be around you unless, of course, your company is unhappy also. Gravitate towards those things in life that make living good.

When a child is born and begins to mature, everything is noticed and observed until the infant becomes aware of all these details in its environment. As an adult, those details come to be overlooked or neglected. Just as all the smaller details comprise larger details of life, people are also composed of details. If we see an adult who has the tendency to tell lies, this act could lead to larger lies and thoughts of wrongdoing--that’s why the smaller things should not go unnoticed.

We forget or remain unaware of all the smaller things that have led to larger things such as the addition of facts which have led to scientific discoveries, technological advances and improvements upon devices we use everyday such as televisions, cameras, and the way we listen to music. Imagine the discoveries, historically, that began by smaller events.

The keen and careful observer in life will know that even those things in life defined as insignificant have value. A successful artist discerns the details. A successful businessman has to observe the smaller details of behavior and gestures and actions. As people mature, they collect voluminous amounts of bits and pieces of factual information.

Even nature’s details are taken for granted such as the blades of grass that build a lawn, the varieties of trees that create the woods we hike through and give us shade, or the clouds that form to create paintings in an artist’s mind.

It’s the little things that make a big difference. Think about the details that make a person’s character and the list is endless--love, influence, integrity, self-reliance, temperance, pride, patience, gratitude, kindness, love, and prayer.

The existence of circumstance points to two factors in life. The first is a bottom line and the second is the silver lining and both create a balance. If a silver lining includes success and happiness, the bottom line is the hard work it’s going to take to attain and nurture both. Life does not fail us; it’s the other way around.

We live in a country that is rich with freedom, a large detail we sometimes overlook when we are so far distanced from problems that continue to unfold in other countries. We live in a very permissive society, a society that sets the standards, another detail we overlook when we sit around and complain, never leaving our sofas to become proactive towards making a change. The shows we watch on television are based on an economic judgment, not a moral one, so if a person doesn’t like what’s on, there is the freedom to either turning it off or becoming proactive to getting it off the air.

Our legal system dictates what is right or wrong. Our religious sects try to persuade their members what is right or wrong, or good or evil. A silver lining in America, though, is the freedom to think independently, the freedom to choose your God, and the freedom to pursue goals.

Good manners are a part of good morals and the bottom line is that it is much our responsible duty as our interest to practice in both. People who sit around and complain about a generation that is full of disrespect, or who talk incessantly about the moral decline of our present generation aren’t accomplishing much if it’s talk that leads nowhere. Good manners and good morals begin with good parenting. The changes in the world can only begin with those who decide to participate in making a difference by being a small part of that change, a small part in changing a direction, or a small part in something that is good that can only lead to something that is better. The bottom line is the fact that unless there is action, there are no effects. The silver lining is that anything is possible. Nobody will ever know, though, if there’s never any action.