Gain From Losing

You might wonder how you can possibly gain something from losing something, but it's possible. Even though finding the silver lining and giving thanks in some situations is difficult, it is incredibly important that we do it. If we sit down and give up when the going gets tough, we might never stumble upon the door that is open for us when all the others close. There's a reason for everything, even though we might not see it at the time. Whenever one door closes, another one opens.

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* sun is shining and a smile on my face *

When you find yourself thinking that things cannot get much worse, try and seek a reason to be thankful when you're faced with a difficult situation. It can be even the smallest reason, like a roof over your head or a smile from someone on the street... but it helps.

Some people might think that losing a job is the worst thing that could happen, and I temporarily thought that when I was laid off from my architecture job. Losing my job might have seemed like the worst thing that could happen at the time, but I still have so many things to be thankful for.... especially some of the things that would not have happened if I still had that job.

Here are some things that I have gained from losing my job:

• learned to better prioritize things that I do not need vs. do need
• met people, that I may have never met, who have affected me in a positive way and helped me to where I am currently
• gained time to focus on and learn things that I enjoy and am happy doing... for example: blogging and photography
• more time to focus on my relationship with husband and more time to take care of him (:
• have been able to put more time into learning about myself and working on becoming a better person each and every day
• become much better at budgeting and saving money
• spent more time cooking and baking homemade 'yummies' to share with my husband and friends
• gratitude for my husband, his hard work, and a job that he loves doing
• learned that you never need to apologize for who you are, and that people who love you will not judge you for being jobless even though you might be really hard on yourself (thanks for that reminder Cait!)

... these are really just a few of many things that I have learned from losing my job ...

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I want to share these lyrics from Katy Perry's song "Firework". They are amazing!

... if you're ever feeling less than perfect think of these lyrics ...

"you don't have to feel like a waste of space. you're original, cannot be replaced. if you only knew what the future holds. after a hurricane, comes a rainbow. maybe your reason why all the doors are closed, so you could open one that leads you to the perfect road..."

When you find yourself thinking that things cannot get much worse, try to find that open door and a reason to be thankful.