You Never Can Tell

When the Rugrats were very young, hubby would sit down with them and read in the evenings before bed. One of their favorite books was called, "You Never Can Tell"--the lesson of the book was that seemingly bad things can turn out good--and conversely, good things can turn out bad. Here is how that book might play for me.

• Moved to a po-dunk small town at age 14--ripped away from all my friends and everything I knew.
  
  
  
• The Po-dunk town turned out to have a great highschool with wonderful teachers and academic counselors who pushed me to achieve.
  
  
• Po-dunk town also exposed me to biggoted behavior by some of my classmates.
  
  
• I learned to deal with this behavior in a constructive way. I tried to be the best at everything so that no one could criticize me.
  
  
• Perfectionism has its limits as a coping mechanism.
  
  
• Cross Country (and running in general) became another way to "work on my issues".
  
  
  
• I got injured from running. A lot.
  
  
• Knowledge and ability to perceive injuries and be in tune with my body gave me an appreciation of healthy habits.
  
  
• Watching my dad die after a lifetime of unhealthly habits broke my heart.
  
  
• Met my now husband after he read my dad's obituary in the local paper.
  
  
• Hubby was in the middle of a messy divorce with two kids when we met.
  
  
• He helped me deal with my dad's death. I helped him deal with the breakup of his family.
  
  
  
• I realized that stepkids and exwives could be a real pain in the butt.
  
  
• Also realized that I didn't want to have my own biological kids and that knowledge freed me to pursue my Master's degree without guilt.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Master's degree sucked up 7 years of my life-- 7 years i'll never get back.
  
  
  
  
• I learned the true meaning of the word, "Perseverence"
  
  
  That's about as far as I can go with it myself. What about you? What events did you think might be "bad" but then turned out to be "good" for you?