Smart Talking Fran Drescher

Good things happen.

This was the message Fran Drescher had to share last night when she came through Minneapolis as part of the Smart Talk lecture series.

Good things are always happening in our lives, even when we feel like we are bogged down with bad. Whether we recognize the opportunities as they appear depends -- of course -- on us. We choose whether to wallow or rise.

She illustrated her point drawing examples from her own life. For example, I didn't know that she struggled for years in Hollywood before finding her niche as "The Nanny" in her mid-thirties.

I also didn't know that throughout those lean Hollywood years, she founded and ran a crouton company. Croutons! Who knew?

And I vaguely remembered, some years past, that she'd been diagnosed with cancer. But I had no idea that it was uterine cancer. I had no idea she had a full hysterectomy.

I had no idea she'd started a nonprofit organization to educate women about gynecological cancers -- uterine and ovarian. It's called, like her book, Cancer Schmancer.

I had no idea she'd been spending time in Washington D.C. lobbying senators to pass a bill to support her work.

And I had no idea she'd been appointed Special Envoy for Women's Health Issues by the U.S. State Department and now travels the world speaking out about the importance of women's health.

She said, last night, that she fully believes she got famous so she could survive cancer so she could educate others.

Now that's a woman who has learned to find the silver lining.

One of my favorite things that she said last night was:

"Nothing good comes from being cemented."

Her message: Things change. Tragedy happens. Rarely do our lives turn out as we planned. If we can't roll with the punches, we're going to have a hard time seeing good.