Turning Something Bad into Something Good

 

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

I try to see the silver lining of every cloud, no matter how much a bad thing hurts or how hard it can be to look on the good side of things. I think a lot of the bad stuff we go through in life is just teaching us some of the hardest lessons we have to learn. Even so, for the things that are not so terrible, there are still some upsides to take comfort in.

 

I was reminded of this recently.

 

Some time ago, I decided to start reading all of the books in different series. I read all the Harry Potter books and all of the Percy Jackson books. The funny thing was, when I was reading the Percy Jackson books, I realized we didn’t have all of the books! Eep!

 

Even though I was frustrated that this setback delayed reading the next book in the series, I pretty much told myself, “I should wait until we have all of the books in a series before I start reading it.”

 

If only I had heeded that advice with the latest series I started reading!

 

For a while, I was reading the Warriors series. The problem, though, was that I was reading the books too fast. My youngest was also reading the books in that series, and by the time I got to the next book I had to read, they weren’t yet done reading it. So I had to wait to read it.

 

However, while I was waiting, I happened upon ANOTHER series by accident: The Guardians of Ga’Hoole. I suddenly wanted to switch to reading this series right now! I figured that after I read this series, I would go back to the Warriors series. There are 20 books in this series, so I could not afford to buy the whole series. I started with two. Unfortunately, I was once again reading the books faster than they got here, so I had to slow down with it while waiting for the next two books to arrive so that I could read them.

 

Well, that worked until it didn’t!

 

I tried ordering Book 5 on Amazon, but I wasn’t really paying attention to WHO I was ordering the book from, and ended up ordering a USED copy of the book (that cost more than a new copy!) from another seller who would not be able to get the book to me for a whole month.

 

That’s right. One. Month.

 

Was I ordering a book from Australia, or something??? (Sidenote: We once ordered something from England and it took a month to get to us!)

 

One month was too long to wait for the next book to get here! I needed to read the next book in the series Right! Now!

 

But, alas, I felt I had no other option. (Ha! Silly me.)

 

So instead of being all mopey about it AND instead of jumping to another series to read instead (with ALL of the books available to read!!), I decided to change things up a little bit. (Yes, I know I could see if they had the book at the library, but I have fallen in love with this series and want to own the entire set. After I finish reading them, I plan to pass them on to someone else who wants to read the books. My youngest is interested in them.)

 

I decided to change things up!

 

April is National Poetry Month, and since I LOVE poetry, I decided to read poetry books in place of series books this month. Why not?

 

So, that’s what I did. I started last night with a collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry and it’s great! Hard to put this book down. I have read assorted Poe poems in the past, but I don’t think I have read all of his poems.

 

And I guess I was rewarded for taking the good out of the bad, or something, because this morning, I found Book 5 of the series at a MUCH more affordable price and … IT WILL BE HERE ON MONDAY!!! WOO-HOO!!!!

 

Now, see, THAT is what I’m talking about!

 

What happened was that the books are not just available from Amazon, but through other sellers as well who do business through Amazon. The book I THOUGHT was a new copy from Amazon was actually a USED copy from another seller. And it cost more than the new paperback that I wanted! ARGH! Once I realized this mistake, I canceled that other order. And! Finding a more affordable copy of Book 5 meant I was able to afford Book 6 as well. YAY!!!!

 

I’m so glad it all worked out okay, but this was definitely a good reminder that instead of getting all broken up about something bad that happened, we should instead focus on the upside of things. A setback is just an opportunity to change things up a little. Try something else, take a new approach or grab hold of a timely opportunity. A setback does not mean “The End.” It is just a chance to change your strategy.