altonlocke

I’m thankful for the last 16 months of my life, I’m thankful that I had to endure pain, humiliation, being lied to, and being let down time and time again.

Too often we’re only thankful for the good in life, and while I am as well, the good doesn’t push you to re-evaluate, it doesn’t force you to take a new approach, it doesn’t expose your flaws, and it doesn’t make you realize you can be a better person.

Too often we dwell over the hard times we struggle through…but guess what? It doesn’t have to be negative.

Am I glad that I lost my best friend and had a relationship ruined to make me realize that I couldn’t wait another day to make changes in my life, to live a healthier more fulfilling life…of course not.

Then I started to think, would I even be doing this if this person was still in my life? No, not at all. I’d be content and I wouldn’t feel the need to change anything.

So here I am, rewriting my life, not trying to make up for my past, but trying to improve my future. The past is the past, it has been written. So instead of trying to change it and instead of dwelling on it, take control.

Every person in our life is merely a vehicle to help us grow and develop. To this person, more than anything, I am thankful. Because of them I’ve changed. I had the courage to look at myself and say “I can be better”, I’m not the one who decided to sit back and tell myself I did nothing wrong. I am no longer content with being the person I was and I’m the better person for taking a risk and doing things I never thought I could do, learning things I never thought I’d learn, and pushing myself mentally, physically, and emotionally.

So be thankful for the negative just as much as the positive. It is merely a growing pain in life, because when the sky clears, you’ll see the world in a new light.

Never be content with the good, because the good can be better and better can be the best…but in the blink of an eye it can all come crashing down and that’s the moment we realize what we’re made of.