The Best Worst Thing That Ever Happened To You

There is little positivity in the super negative things that happen to you. At least in the moment.

I find it endlessly fascinating to hear stories, and live my own, where people turn “the worst thing that ever happened to me” into the best possible outcome. Is that perspective? Or is it truth?

Losing your job. Losing your spouse. Getting in an extended fight with a dear friend. Losing all your money. Making a very public, embarrassing mistake.

These are all moments that are opportunities for reflection and learning. You just have to view it that way. And I think age and wisdom can aide with that.

Maybe you need something dramatic to make you change your ways. If everything is mostly mediocre and uninspiring you can get stuck in the mud. Change is hard to initiate yourself. That’s why most people won’t change their diet without a cancer diagnosis. Most people won’t quit their job without getting fired. Most people won’t really leave their partner without some extreme event.

Change is difficult. Change is scary. Change requires so much effort. People are comfortable in misery and deathly afraid of the unknown.

Maybe something is wrong with me. I get bored really easily. I embrace the change. Although maybe I wasn’t that way before my significant event - my divorce and the loss of my family.

When I look at this thought experiment that was definitely my catalyst. My “worst thing that ever happened to me” did turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. It is easy to see now. But it was 4 or 5 years of misery and heart aching defeat. It made me more daring. It made me more grateful. It made me wiser. But I try to stay humble.

I like to think there is something dramatic coming again. Will I be able to handle it? Will it break me? There is a little fear. But I hope I can turn it into something great. Fuck it man. We aren’t here that long. I’d rather lost it all and have something tangible than go through the rest of my life wondering “what if”? I think I’m pretty different from most people - so I try to keep that in mind when I have high hopes and people let me down. This is my drive, my journey, my path, and no one else is responsible but me. Everything that happens to me is my fault, my dream, my glory, my decision. Luck comes in whenever it wants to but I’m in charge of lining some of this shit up.

Gotta keep cruising. I’ll get better. I’ll become smarter. And hopefully I’ll continue to stay humble while everyone around me teaches me something new and I become the best version of myself. The worst things can become the best things. Or at least that is what I’m telling myself! 🤣