Crappy Times

Let me just say right away that I’m thankful for my family and friends. I am also thankful that I enjoy hundreds of freedoms daily that others in the world could only dream about. Just so you know, I feel quite blessed.
I recently read post about being thankful for people who help you through tough times in life and it made me stop and think of the people who have helped me. (There are several.) But it also led me to think of the crappy times themselves. And for as much as I would gladly hit the delete key and erase most of them from my life, I can’t. But in an odd way I’m thankful for them, too.
Rough times have shown me what I’m made of and who I can count on. They’ve allowed me to gain empathy for folks in similar situations. I think crap times have contributed just as much, if not more, to the person that I am as the good times have. At this ripe old age, I’ve dealt with a fair amount of crappiness. But the experiences have taught me that I’ll get through it eventually, even as I also know things will likely suck for a while. And that that’s just the way to has to be. So today I raise my glass to the crappy as well as to the good times. You can’t have one without the other.