A dear friend and colleague of mine, who passed away recently, was a transpersonal psychologist with a very “philosophical” way of looking at life. Presented with someone’s perceived crisis, painful experience, or challenging life situation, Ann would often say – with a special twinkle in her eye – “What’s the ‘gift’ in this experience?” “Is there something to be gained, or a lesson to be learned?” Most of her listeners, myself included, usually found this a rather annoying but ultimately intriguing proposition.