Life happens. Some days or periods flow seamlessly, while other times it feels like the universe has decided to test your limits. Your coffee spills all over the keyboard. The day starts on the wrong foot, and it feels like everything is falling apart at full speed. But in the middle of the chaos, there’s an opportunity: the choice of how you view the situation. Finding something positive in the mess isn’t about forcing a smile when you really want to scream—it’s about extracting a lesson, a new opportunity, or at the very least, a story worth telling.
When Life Tests You
We’ve all been through things that put us to the test—loss, failure, or periods when everything felt heavy. And the last thing you want to hear in those moments is, “Just think positive.” But sometimes, when the dust settles, we’re able to look back and realize we learned something important.
Maybe that tough time made you more resilient. Maybe it helped you see who and what really matters. Maybe it uncovered a strength you didn’t know you had. We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we let it shape us.
Small Accidents as Opportunities
Every obstacle, no matter how annoying, carries a hidden opportunity—whether it’s a lesson, a new solution, or simply a good story. When things go wrong, we can either let it ruin our day or use it to our advantage.
Imagine breaking a glass. Frustrating? Yep. But maybe it was time to clean the floor anyway. And who knows—you might find that damn ring you’ve been looking for the past six months while crawling around picking up glass shards.
The point is, things fall apart sometimes, but often there’s a small gain hidden in the mess. It’s about flipping your perspective and noticing the little upsides you would otherwise have missed—like when a colleague of mine dropped their coffee cup at a trade show in Amsterdam in 2020.
It could have been an annoying start to the day, but instead of focusing on the mess, I saw something else: a spontaneous work of art. The coffee splash against the light-colored floor looked almost intentional—like an improvised pop-up art installation. So instead of sighing over the spill, I took a photo. The mess wasn’t just an accident—it became a story.
Techniques for Positive Thinking
Changing the way we interpret situations takes practice. But it’s not about forcing yourself to be eternally optimistic—it’s about giving your brain a chance to view things from another angle.
One simple yet effective technique is to pause and ask yourself a few questions:
- What can I learn from this?
- What if this actually leads to something better?
- Is there a hidden opportunity here?
The answer may not come right away, but just asking the questions can make a difference. It opens you up to new perspectives instead of locking you into frustration.
Another technique is gratitude. Not in the overly sweet “be grateful for everything” way, but by noticing small bright spots—a good conversation, an unexpected sunny day, or that one song on the radio that hits just right.
And yes—sometimes the lesson is a bit more brutal. So you break another glass. This time, you find nothing. No hidden treasure, no reward—just a mess and frustration.
Now what? Maybe the answer is as simple as: be more careful. Maybe this was the moment that makes you more mindful in the future. Sometimes the gain isn’t in what we get, but in what we learn.opp denne hendelsen som fikk deg til å være mer oppmerksom fremover. Noen ganger ligger ikke gevinsten i det vi får, men i det vi lærer.
Avoiding Toxic Positivity
Finding something positive doesn’t mean ignoring or suppressing difficult emotions. Sometimes, life really sucks—and it’s okay to acknowledge that. We don’t need to plaster on a fake smile or pretend everything’s fine when it’s not—that quickly veers into toxic positivity.
True positivity isn’t about sweeping struggles under the rug. It’s about balance: recognizing that something is hard, and still looking for what we might learn from it. Maybe there’s a hidden opportunity in the chaos, a new strength we discover in ourselves, or an experience we can grow from.
Growing Through Experience
Life will always throw challenges our way—some small, others monumental. We can’t control everything that happens, but we can control how we respond. When we consciously search for the positive, we also open the door to learning, growth, and new possibilities.
So next time you’re facing an uphill climb, try asking yourself:
What can I take with me from this?
What if this, somehow, might lead to something good?
Because it’s often in our toughest moments that we find the most valuable lessons.
