There will always be times where your roof springs a leak, your water heater lets loose an Old Testament flood, your child acts up in school, you don’t get that new job you wanted, your favorite computer dies, you can’t shake an awful cold, or Bob Villa decides your house isn’t good enough for him.

What does Bob Villa know anyway? He can take his crapy Craftsman socketless, adjustable wrench and go back to where ever he came from! And who’s to say This Old House would even have him back?

Here is where my job and the national news serve me well; they are a daily dose of perspective. My child has two caring parents. My family has a stable home life. My family likes to spend time together (sometimes). I don’t have to pay for heating oil. We’re not among the record breaking masses filing for bankruptcy (yet). My legs are killing me from that hard ride home. (How’d that one sneak in there?)

As I’ve mused before, bad things don’t necessarily bring greater good. Storm clouds don’t always have a silver lining. What’s important to me is that the rain doesn’t usually wash away all of the good stuff you had before. Now if we could just pay off that home equity loan…