Silver Linings

“If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying.”-The Silver Linings Playbook

Today (and well really, last night at 4am...) I read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, an absolutely phenomenal book about coping with mental illness and showing that everyone deserves love and everyone deserves their "silver lining." The last few pages of the books had me in tears (as the ends of most good books do because I'm a reader and that's what we do) as I got to the end and realized exactly how it was going to end.

I won't spoil the book for anyone who has yet to read it. (or for anyone who wants to see the movie...but really, read the book first!)

There is always a silver lining.

This book shows that no matter what you're going through...whatever trials you've had, whether through your own hand or through an illness that has taken over your life...everyone can find that happiness. Having watched people in my own life struggle with mental illness, this book made me think about how so many people don't understand what it's like to live every day with something like this.

But everyone can have that happiness. Everyone deserves it. We're so scared to reach out to other people when we see them hurting because we don't know how to help them or what to do to help them. But sometimes all it takes is being there. Being that friend.

The book (and the experience of reading it) is so very powerful. If you have a few hours to spare, I suggest you pick it up. (although I do read a lot faster than most people so I finished it in about an hour and a half...)

“life is random and f***ed-up and arbitrary, until you find someone who can make sense of it all for you— if only temporarily.'--The Silver Linings Playbook