Positive Thinking Cliches

At the heart of nearly every one of our "positive thinking cliches" there is a nascent stoic reductionism. For my sermon this past Lord's Day, I tried to remember as many of these sayings as I could. I was trying to explore the most common ways that we tend to minimize a Biblical approach to trials, adversities, difficulties, hassles, griefs, woes, and troubles (the "peirasmos" of James 1:2-4). Here are the ones I was able to come up with:

Every cloud has a silver lining.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

After the rain comes a rainbow.

It's always darkest before the dawn

Every rose has its thorn.

Midnight is where the day begins.

The sharper the berry, the sweeter is the wine.

What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger.

Que sera, sera; whatever will be, will be.

All sunshine makes a desert.

Bloom where you are planted.

Defeat is just a down payment for victory.

Failure is the backdoor to success.

Doing stupid things certainly makes life more interesting.

If at first you don't succeed, try try again.

A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

The road to success is always under construction.

We often see further through a tear, than through a telescope.

No pain, no gain.

It'll feel better when it stops hurting.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad!