Parental Advice/Boon or Bane?

As I was growing up in southern California, I was the recipient of widely divergent parenting advice. My dad was an eternal optimist who insisted that every cloud had a silver lining, that if you are given lemons you just need to make lemonade, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. My mom, on the other hand, always felt that any silver lining had a cloud lurking nearby and that if you are given lemons, then you have too many lemons.
Due to their influence, I have found myself generally approaching most changes in my life with a jaundiced eye. I tend to let things play out before declaring any benefit from tragedy or debt from success.
The events of this past year, though, have led me to believe that one of my parents was probably on the right track. My wife and I found ourselves in an increasingly precarious position, debt-wise, due to her quitting her job to go back to school. This prompted me to take a second job, as I wanted to support her quest to better her job prospects as it would lead to greater income for us in the end. The stress of my working 14 to16 hours a day was something neither one of us could foresee. We went through a particularly nasty patch, highlighted by the fact neither of us could afford to move out of the house.
Another unforeseen result was the stress affecting my full-time job. This resulted in a series of misunderstandings that ended in my being fired. Only, my Mom seemed to have the inside track on how this was all working out.
My loss of the full-time job helped me gain access to my retirement fund, which allowed me to make some repairs to our home in anticipation of selling it. This sale went through eleven months ago, which according to The Oregonian , was the peak of the market before the current downturn. The resulting profit from the sale, after riding the inflation roller coaster for three plus years, was enough for both my wife and I to be able to separate. This has allowed us to become better friends, as long as we concentrate on taking care of the children. Now my father seemed to have the inside track. I only hope that we have not instilled the same cynical belief in parenting that I have. But having gone through two divorces, I am afraid they will.
As much as my cynical side wants to discredit Dad’s optimistic streak , the events of this past year have forced me to accept that he had a valid point. When one path in your life is blocked, you have two options. You can bemoan your fate and feel sorry for yourself, or you can cast about looking for another path. In the end, he was right, and often that path is a better one than the one you were on.