Our annual Tribute Dinner is just around the corner on October 13. This year’s speaker is Regina Brett, a columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland,Ohio; author of “God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours;” and a breast cancer survivor. Our theme for this year is “Navigating Life’s Detours” and was inspired by Regina’s book, which is a collection of essays and stories about the lessons life taught her along the detours of life.

In the weeks leading up to our big event, staff members, volunteers and clients will share some of their thoughts and reflections in regards to Regina’s life lessons and we will share them on the blog.

To kick off the blog series, president and CEO Dianne May shares her thoughts on why “life is not fair, but it’s still good.”

“Most of us have heard the first part of this axiom from a parent, or teacher or maybe even a boss. We associate the phrase, ‘life isn’t fair’ with not winning, or not getting our own way, maybe even with a tragic loss. The implication is that we need to learn how to deal with whatever has occurred.

But, when the second part of the axiom is added to the first, the essence of its meaning changes. We are encouraged to turn our attention to the good things in our life. Sometimes that is pretty hard advice to swallow, especially when something unfair or bad has happened. It is tempting to feel sorry for ourselves, to complain, even sometimes to whine.

Still it is encouraging to be reminded that we have the power to choose how we respond in tough situations. It is possible to believe that life is still good when bad things happen. And more times than not, believing that really does make it true.”

~Dianne May, president and CEO