Most of the time, I wish the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were as petty and vindictive as me. Like, if I had been treated the way they’ve been treated, I would have burned it all down years ago and really given those horrible people something to cry about. But as we’ve seen many times, Prince Harry and Meghan mostly choose peace. They’ve told their side of the story, in a gentle, heavily redacted way, and just moved on with their lives for the most part. Especially Meghan, who I’ve always thought is the more forward-looking and optimistic partner. Well, during the Cookie Queens LA screening this week, Meghan spoke about how she gets through the “really hard days.”
Meghan Markle has revealed the personal piece of advice that Prince Harry gave her to help get through “really hard days.”
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, attended a special screening of Cookie Queens — a documentary about Girl Scouts, which Meghan and Harry executive produced — at AMC The Grove in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 28.
The mom of two was asked during a Q&A attended by PEOPLE about how she motivates herself when having “tough moments,” and said she thinks back to a positive quote her husband told her “ages ago.”
“I think so much of it, funny enough, I was thinking about something my husband told me ages ago, because we all go through experiences and life is full of surprises,” Meghan said. “But you know, he was a helicopter pilot in the British Army for 10 years. And sometimes on really hard days, we were once he said, ‘Hey, but my love, you know, even if there’s a storm happening above the storm, the sun’s always shining.’ ”
Meghan added that Harry’s perspective “only comes when you think about zooming out a little.”
“So I think when you really zoom out and think, ‘My gosh, how many things have we gone through that have felt hard?’ And then you still get through them,” Meghan continued. “Or how many goals do you think you’re not gonna hit? And then you hit them and you supersede them.”
Meghan said it is important to maintain the perspective “that no matter what feels insurmountable, there’s just always that sun shining above it.”
It’s a very positive message and I was going to say something about how it’s on-brand for Meghan’s low-key twee-teacher energy, but then I remembered that half of the audience in this screening was probably made up of little kids. So I’ll shut my mouth!! It’s a good message for kids, to zoom out and take a bigger-picture view of their “hard days.” In an audience with kids, it’s probably a good thing that Meghan didn’t talk about vengeance and whatnot. And really, when you zoom out, karma always comes for Meghan’s enemies.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
It’s a good message for tweens, teens and adults. “this too shall pass” so many young people taken their own lives because they can’t see their way through the storm. So so tragic.
I kind of had a spiritual “epiphany” about 3 years ago, that changed the way I look at things and deal with times like that. I always end up going back to Monty Python’s Philosopy:
🎵 Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best
And…
[Chorus]
Always look on the bright side of life
(Whistle)
Always look on the light side of life
(Whistle)
[Verse 1]
If life seems jolly rotten
There’s something you’ve forgotten
And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing
When you’re feeling in the dumps
Don’t be silly, chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle – that’s the thing
And…
[Chorus]
Always look on the bright side of life
(Whistle) (Come on!)
Always look on the right side of life
(Whistle) 🎶
That’s my song. Always was. But I see that some people have to try really hard to get to this perspective. For me it was always a given. Notoriuosly optimistic.
❤️ 🤗
Thank you for reminding me of a song that was my mantra when I was young! What a 🎁
❤️ 🤗
It’s a good message all around, even if you aren’t dealing with a revenge sort of issue. Sometimes we get too in our heads about what’s going on and taking a step back for perspective and to plan is good advice.
I did notice this though, she seems to be doing a little more promo for this then they did for the stuff directly through netflix. Going to film festivals, showing up as screenings, posting about it often. I like it, but it’s funny I remember that was one of the pretty consistent criticisms about the ” Netflix -era” , that a lot of projects they didn’t promote enough and they were good projects that probably didn’t get all the eyes on them that they should have because of that. So I wonder if they internalized some of that.
When I was younger, I think I was petty and vindictive. I wanted justice for wrong doers right away. The older I have gotten and the more I’m around children, I’ve given up on that and I mostly rely on karma. I think for her mental well being, for all that they both endure, believing in that sun shining philosophy is a gift to her soul.
There’s nothin’ wrong with feeling grumpy, if that’s the way you feel today.
As long as you’re not hurtin’ anybody, keep on feeling that way.
You may be hungry or tired, or ya just got nothin’ to do.
I know just how you’re feeling, ‘cuz I can get grumpy too like you. I can get grumpy too. —Care Bears
Not just kids!
One of the biggest lessons life has taught me is that there’s always a silver lining, you just sometimes need more distance to see it. Find yourself in a terrible situation? Does someone show up for you? Horrible breakup? Maybe it opens you up to other opportunities. And even when there’s nothing obvious you come through it and can maybe appreciate your resilience.
Case in point, last night a friend posted a meme to our chat about being in Brownies as a kid in the 80’s (what you do before Guides in the UK, not sure about elsewhere) only for two of the four of us to share less than happy associated tales. We laughed about it and the conversation came round to those experiences making us who we are today.