In short: By seeing beauty in every moment and exploring all possibilities, we can always find a way to win.

Finding Beauty in Tough Moments

Whatever happens, we can always find something good. Even in the toughest times, there's something to learn, something tiny to enjoy, or some hidden beauty.

A poet once said, It's the shadows that make the light. If everything were beautiful, beauty wouldn't exist. The harshness of life helps us see its beauty.

I'd love if, for my kid, I could be like how Roberto Benigni is in La vita è bella to his kid.

Seeing the Glass

My wife jokes about how most people see a glass half empty. She says, she sees herself the glass half full. But then, she adds that I'm different because I see the glass itself. I see that we can use the glass for new purposes once we drink the water. We can hear the ocean by putting it to our ear or change our view by looking through it. There's always more to a situation than what we first see. There's beauty in discovering what we can do with what we have.

The Wall and Possibilities

Alain Auderset, a Swiss comic artist, drew a strip of someone stuck in front of a wall. The image zooms out to show the wall is just a few meters wide. It’s easy to back up and go around it. This comic reminds me of a philosophy lesson: the world of possibilities is bigger than we think. Often, we see only two choices, but stepping back reveals many more options.

If you face a wall, you might think you're blocked and have to go back home. But stepping back shows other options: dig a tunnel, climb over it, or build a human pyramid with friends.

The problem is the solution

You could even use the bricks to build a cozy home right there.

Ask what else

Life's situations have hidden beauty and joy if we use our imagination and step back to ask: What else? In coaching, we push for at least 10 different ideas because two choices aren't real choices. When we see many possibilities, we make true decisions.

Change the game

And if a game is impossible to win, change the game.