That’s the title of my daughter’s favorite book series and movie.  It is about three orphaned children who are being stalked by their uncle, Count Olaff.  He wants to murder the children so he can inherit their parents’ fortune.  Fortunately, the children always seem to be one step ahead of him.  No matter how menacing the circumstances (at one point in the movie, Count Olaff locks the children inside his car and parks it in front of an oncoming train on a railroad track), the children never panic in the face of catastrophe.

That’s because the oldest child, Violet, who has a gift for inventing things, reminds her younger siblings that, “There is always something you can do about your problems.”  Violet never wasted time questioning why bad things were happening or wishing things were different.  She always looked at her circumstances and asked, “What can I do next?”  And then she quickly went about the business of doing what needed to be done.

By developing the habit of doing what needed to be done, those little kids acquired something most adults only dream about obtaining — the confidence and calm in knowing that no matter what happened they would be okay.

I must confess that whenever my life seems like a series of unfortunate events, it is usually because I have lost sight of the profoundly simple fact that “there is always something you can do to improve the situation.”  And whenever I begin doing what needs to be done, my life takes a miraculous turn for the better.

Encouragement Always.