5 Things I Never Thought I’d Be Thankful For

1. My ex-husband’s affairs.

from onthedotcreations.com

He had plenty of affairs. I believed he was cheating, but he told me I was just paranoid. Thank goodness he decided to leave our family for one of the women. I wouldn’t have chosen to become a single mom to our my 6 month old and two year old sons. But after being forced into it, which ended the lies, anxiety, and arguments,  I was much calmer, happier. Life was easier knowing I had to depend just on me, not some unreliable schmuck.

2. Flunking a course my first semester in college.

Things had been easy for me in high school. I could do well with minimal effort. I tried to maintain that style in college. Fortunately, a biology professor wasn’t about to accept that. It was a great wake-up call that I couldn’t skim through classes/studying or life anymore.

3. Sensitivities and black mold.

I had been looking for a house. My sons were living on their own, I (of course) was getting older. As the realtor said, a condo’ would probably be a good choice for me. Found a nice one but saw some mold in the furnace room and paid to have it tested. It was black mold – so hard to get rid of, so insidious, so would have made me feel lousy.

I backed out of the deal even with the cold reality of probably losing $5,000 earnest money. I ended up buying a non-condo’ old house that had been converted into 3 apartments. It was convenient to walking downtown, which I found I loved. I had wonderful neighbors and extra income each month. Yes!

4. Grant money and the jobs attached ending.

After a bunch of years working in grant funded, government related jobs that ultimately ended (and you spend half your work life looking for new funding rather than doing the job the grants were for) I became sick of it. I decided to head into the private sector. I landed a job in employee relations in a Fortune 100 company. That job set the stage for my ultimately going into business for myself consulting to corporations and speaking at conferences. Whoo-hoo!

5. Having a flat chest.

Growing up I definitely wanted larger breasts. Boys (and men) paid attention to the women who had them. Swimsuits looked better with them. I couldn’t wear dresses that were cut to show cleavage – there was none. But today, my breasts are the only thing that’s not sagging on me. More importantly, I don’t have any of the back issues that many women have who had to carry large breast around their whole lives. I am a lucky duck (they don’t have discernible breasts either).

I hope that this Thanksgiving you too can find a new perspective for failures, perceived failings, and other stuff-ing you may be critical of in your life.

I am also grateful for all my readers. You can also join my table on Facebook and Twitter.