I have never considered anything in life to be "bad" or "worse" than anything else in life because I believe that everything that happens in life is meant to happen for a reason and to teach a lesson. If I had to choose one instance that caused the most growth, I would say my divorce from my husband. Short story is that I was a stay at home wife and he chose to walk away from our marriage and pursue a relationship with another woman. I hadn't worked in a couple of years so I had to find a job in order to pay bills. And, emotionally, I needed to recover from not feeling like enough. What I have realized is that I needed to learn to love myself before I could learn to love others again. I learned that his choice to walk away was HIS choice and had really nothing to do with me. That experience taught me so much and set me on a journey of self-discovery that I am incredibly grateful for. I have taken a direction in life that I never thought I would and it would not have happened if he had stayed in our marriage.
I can think of a lot of difficult things I have faced in life. I agree with you that defining something as "worse" may not be the best idea. And I agree that there is something to learn from every life experience.
One of the most recent challenging times I faced was moving back to the States after having lived in Indonesia for more than 10 years. My wife and I moved there as a couple and we came back with 5 kiddos. Indonesia was there home. It was the place that held most of their memories. It was a place that my wife and I had learned to love deeply.
When we came back, we experienced severe reverse culture shock. I fell into depression and for a while just struggled to have joy. Not only did we lose our friends and home, but I also lost my job. I realized that I had placed a lot of focus of who I was as a person in that job.
Then I found Steem (free therapy as I create content) and found a new job. Had another kiddo (our first son). Life is still challenging, but I have grown. My faith has been stretched. It has not been a fun ride for the last 3 years or so, but I believe it has been the right journey for my family and me.
Thank you for opening up about your journey. I hope you are in a good place now. Blessing to you and great success for the future.
Keep Steeming!
Congratulations @socent! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCongratulations @socent! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
Congratulations! You will love being single once you get used to it. Far fewer problems! Only yourself to please! It's lovely. He did you a favor.
Congratulations @socent! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board and compare to others on the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPDo not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
Vote for us as a witness to get one more badge and upvotes from us with more power!