When bad things happen, it's only natural to think they're bad.
After all, if they weren't bad, they'd be good – and you'd think they were good, not bad, and you might be right. Or, you might be wrong.
Because things aren't always what they seem. Even when they are, you can't count on them staying that way.
Sometimes, things that seem bad really aren't. That goes for good things, too.
Sometimes, things start out bad and get better, or vice versa.
How often do you meet someone you don't like at first and later become fast friends or even lovers?
Conversely, how many longtime friends and lovers disappoint you in the end?
No one likes bad news, but isn't it better to get it sooner rather than later?
For instance, finding out that you have cancer is a bad thing, but the sooner you find out, the better, and that's a good thing.
Likewise with bad investments, bad relationships, etc. The longer it takes to find out they're bad, the worse the outcome and the anguish are likely to be.
That's why we're almost glad that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the petition filed by West Virginia State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and 14 other state AGs, asking the court to issue an emergency stay to postpone deadlines imposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.
Had the court issued that stay, it would have seemed like a good thing, but would it have been really? Mightn't it have tempted us to drop our guard and act as though our long-term problems with the EPA were at last coming to an end?
They're not. The agency won't change course voluntarily, and neither the courts nor the current Congress will rein it in. Nothing but a change in the executive branch of the federal government can solve those problems. Knowing that is a good thing, and something to remember next November.