In contrast to the many tough lessons that proverbs try to teach us, this week's proverb is a cheery one. It's "every cloud has a silver lining" and it's a good one to end the year on.
Let's pretend that a cloud is like a dark-gray winter coat. The cold wind blows, folding back the hem of the coat. Then, what do we see? The beautiful shiny silver cloth inside — the lining.
Similarly, there may be dark clouds in the sky, but when we look carefully, the edgesare lined with a bright light. This shows that the sun is shining behind those clouds.
Likewise, in bad times, if you look closely, you'll see there's good fortune coming in the future.
I'm sure a lot of people went through difficulties of some sort in 2007, through struggles and challenges as they tried to achieve their goals.
I myself fell physically ill for a while, which was unusual for me because I'm normally bursting with good health, eating three meals and exercising each day. I could normally run a triathlon without any problem, but while I was ill, I could barely make it out of bed.
This year, though, when I was ill, I lost the motivation to do even my most favorite things, like reading books, writing or even going to my favorite stationery shops. I felt frustrated, depressed and angry at myself, and somehow this just contributed to my lack of will to do anything.
My family and friends suggested that I think about the fun things I could do when I was better, but usually the pain was too much to even allow for that little bit of dreaming. The silver lining of this week's proverb seemed to be beyond me.
But now I've had enough of my dark thoughts. I'm going to let go of the "should have, could have, would have" way of thinking. I'm going to put Chet Baker's "Look for the Silver Lining" in the CD player and think positive thoughts.
When things are rough, it's easy to become bitter and cynical, and it's difficult to believe that a positive attitude is possible. You're more likely to think there's a cloud to every silver lining, rather than the opposite way round.
But you've got to overcome that negativity and, as Chet Baker sings, "Try to find the sunny side of life."
Q1 In this proverb, the "cloud" stands for:
A1) Hardship.
A2) Good times.
A3) Bad weather.
正解： A1) Hardship.
Q2 When Kana fell ill, she:
A1) Ran a triathlon.
A2) Wrote an autobiography.
A3) Didn't leave her bed often.
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