This I Believe

Take the Good with the Bad

Living Life could easily be the most complex task known to mankind. Everyday is a new learning experience. Whether the learning experience is good or bad, it forms you into the person you become. Everything in life happens for a reason.

            There are times in life where you reflect on recent events and just think, why me? I have found myself asking this question during many occasions in my lifetime. I’d be lying if I said none of these events have affected me at all. In reality, each and every one has contributed into who I am today.

            It is easy to say my dad has made the biggest contribution. Over the past few years, my dad and I have grown much closer. My freshmen year, I would’ve never pictured my relationship with him the way it is now. This relationship didn’t just happen because of our compatible personalities, but because of the many fights we’ve gotten into and all the poor choices I have made.

            My dad and I never used to get along. We would fight about anything we could fight about. To act out, I started doing more of what I wanted to do instead of what I should’ve been doing. That’s when I got into an extremely unhealthy relationship with someone who had low, if any, expectations for himself. This guy fit the description perfectly of someone my dad didn’t want me dating. After a year of getting hurt over and over again, I finally learned my lesson. I gave up on the relationship expecting the classic “I told you so” speech from my dad. Instead, he helped me move on and supported me the whole way through. “I knew you would figure this one out on your own,” he said.

            Although that awful relationship hurt me at the time, it helped me in the long run. I know now that it happened for a reason. That reason was to let my dad play a bigger role in my life. Since then, my dad has been there for me. He has looked out for me and helped me with some pretty difficult things. He gives the best advice and knows how to make my days better. I don’t know where I’d be without his support and I’m glad so much good came out of the bad.

            This isn’t the only thing that has pushed me to believe everything happens for a reason. Friends I have gained, friends I have lost, relationships gone bad, they have all taught me so much. My friendships have taught me how to be a better friend to people and my past relationships have taught me how to treat the people I truly love. Everything in life contributes into the person you are. I can honestly say that every person that has come into my life has affected me in some way, shape, or form. I am very grateful for that.

            Marilyn Monroe once said, “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so eventually you learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” Like I said, I have had many events where I sat down and just asked, why me? In the end, that’s what life is about. Things happen to teach you more about yourself than you’d ever want to know. Whenever life seems rough or everything seems life it is shattering around you, remember, it is happening for a reason.