I always try to look at the bright side of life, realizing that everything most of us consider a tragedy is really a valuable experience that can teach us to do better.
I lived with loving adoptive parents but my father had a difficult time expressing his love for me. He became an alcoholic and drank as soon as he returned from work and heavily on the weekends. His gentle demeanor would become cruel and his mean words would create emotional wounds that would still show scars many years later.
His blue-collar hands showed a lifetime of hard work. He always said he loved me. He bought me the coolest bike. Cigarette smoke would pour from his mouth even after the third exhale. He preached Jesus when drunk. He yelled at the television about corrupt politicians. He insulted my mom when dinner wasn’t prepared to his taste.
But whatever he said or did, I knew he loved us. He just had a strange way of showing it.
I wouldn’t have changed a moment of my childhood, for under a different blueprint I would not be the same person as I am today.
Therefore, be happy you are who you are. And don’t blame any troublesome past to your current shortcomings. Hopefully you have learned a great lesson from it. Think about that. You not only learned the correct things to do to have a happy, purposeful life, but you learned the things what not to do that would prevent you from having a happy and purposeful life.
When I was a teenager still living at home, I remember analyzing my dad’s behavior, thinking, “when I grow up and move away from here, I will never do that.” Or if I admired a quality I would say, “when I grow up and move away, I want to possess that quality.”
No one knows how our minds develops and grows. Even twins growing together in a family can take contrasting paths later in life. But it is important to appreciate and learn from every experience that one encounters. Every experience is different and usually never repeats itself. Therefore, even as what may appear as an obstacle in ones life could very well be the exact tool needed to achieve great happiness and success.
Erase the word “unfortunate” from your vocabulary and realize that every experience, good or bad, provides another key that unlocks the next door of opportunity that awaits you.