“When bad turns good, it feels great. So enjoy it while it lasts… or recreate it.”
~ Brian Sullivan


Why do we sometimes need bad to create good? Why does becoming a polished gem have to be painful?

Think about it. How great does it feel to lose your wallet and then find it stuck between the couch cushions? Or to misplace your car keys only to find them in the jeans you wore last night? Or to hear about a friend who might be seriously ill only to find out the test came back negative?

Why does it take the taste of pain to make the flavor of normalcy seem so much better? I don’t know why, I just know it does.

So can we recreate and sustain that “just found my wallet” feeling…without having to lose the wallet? I think we can…but you have to, get this, THINK NEGATIVE! Close your eyes right now and think of how bad you felt at a point in your personal or professional life and relive that nasty pit in your stomach.Got the feeling yet? Good! Now open your eyes and look around. You are NOT in that place. Life is good. Work is good. YOU are good! But if you are like me, you need to be reminded that beyond your 42nd e-mail, and 23rd voice mail, and 16th spreadsheet that life doesn’t suck! (How’s that for deep!) And if the only time we really enjoy TODAY is if yesterday was miserable, we will limit the amount of happiness we experience.

So this week, take pleasure in the “average day” more than ever. Open your billfold and take a long look at the pictures. Then go create some additional personal and professional memories that will make great additions to the images that summarize who you are. Then show them off to the world.